The Inter team qualified for the round of 16 of the Club World Cup after defeating the River Plate team 2:0 in their last match from group "E", sportal.bg reported.
The goals were scored by Francesco Pio Esposito (72') and Alessandro Bastoni (90'+3').
The Argentines played with a man less than the 66th minute, when Lucas Martinez Cuarta was sent off.
The match started at 4:00 Bulgarian time, and the others played at the same time two teams from the group Urawa Red Diamonds and Monterrey. The Mexicans won 4:0 and followed Inter in the elimination phase of the prestigious tournament.
The Mexicans turned out to be the big surprise in the group, after drawing with both Inter (1:1) and River Plate (0:0). Thus, the last round in group "E" turns out to be extremely complicated, because if one of the big teams lost points and Monterrey won its match against the Japanese, there would be a shift in the standings and the Mexicans would continue at the expense of the Italians or the Argentines. This could have happened even if Inter and River had drawn and Monterrey had won by two or more goals.
Cristian Chivu has relied on Lautaro Martinez in his starting lineup, who saved his team in very difficult moments in the previous two matches with goals that brought the team the points that currently keep it in first place in the group.
The Argentine coach Giardo started with two of his top scorers to date - Collidio and Mesa, while Driussi, who also scored, is among the reserves.
In the first half, scoring opportunities were scarce and the opponents relied on physical duels. This logically led to rough actions on the field and the main referee of the match, Ilgiz Tantashev, marked Gonzalo Montiel from River Plate and Alessandro Bastoni from Inter with yellow cards.
The real scoring opportunities came after the break. Inter pressed, as Monterrey was leading 3-0 against Urawa at the time, meaning that if the Italians drew with River, they would be eliminated. So in the 51st minute, Lautaro Martinez created the most interesting situation of the match, shooting into the left post.
About a quarter of an hour later, the difficult moments for the Argentine giants began. Mkhitaryan was dropped by the River defense and went on a speed raid into the Argentine half, but was brutally tripped from behind by Lucas Martinez Quatra, who deservedly received a straight red card and left his team with a man less.
Just six minutes later, Mkhitaryan again became a real black cat for River, finding Esposito with a pass in the penalty area, who shot into a corridor between two players in a white and red sports kit and opened the scoring.