Soccer-Inter Milan strike late to progress with 2-0 win over River Plate
Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group E - Inter Milan v River Plate - Lumen Field, Seattle, Washington, U.S. - June 25, 2025 River Plate's German Pezzella in action with Inter Milan's Sebastiano Esposito IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Steven Bisig
SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -Inter Milan scored twice in the last 18 minutes to beat River Plate 2-0 on Wednesday and progress to the knockout stage of the Club World Cup as Group E winners and send the Argentines home.
Sebastiano Esposito scored Inter's first goal seven minutes after River had been reduced to 10 men by the dismissal of Lucas Martinez Quarta, and Alessandro Bastoni added the second in stoppage time.
The 20-times Italian champions will face Brazilian club Fluminese in the last 16 in Charlotte on Monday with Monterrey, who beat Urawa Red Diamonds 4-0, going through in second place a point ahead of River.
Martinez Quarta was shown the red card for bringing down Henrikh Mkhitaryan as the last defender with his teammate Gonzalo Montiel also dismissed for two yellow cards after a fracas in stoppage time.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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