Inter Milan went through to the last 16 of the Club World Cup with victory over Argentine side River Plate, who finished their final Group E game with nine players and are out of the tournament.
The bad-tempered match at Lumen Field in Seattle ended with River Plate’s Marcos Acuna having to be restrained by team-mates and staff – including his captain Franco Armani and Inter manager Cristian Chivu – as he chased opposition winger Denzel Dumfries who was jogging off the pitch.
Fans threw objects at players as Dumfries was escorted down the tunnel.
That was preceded by a melee between players from the two sides, sparked by a tackle by Acuna on Dumfries, with River Plate’s Gonzalo Montiel dismissed in the aftermath after picking up a second yellow card.
The Argentine side had already seen Lucas Martinez Quarta sent off after 66 minutes for denying midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan a goalscoring opportunity.
Shortly afterwards, 19-year-old Francesco Esposito lashed in his first goal for the club to give Inter the lead.
Alessandro Bastoni added a second with a left-foot shot five minutes into added time.
“We have the job done,” said Inter’s Romanian boss Cristian Chivu. “We qualify for the further stage of this competition. We are pleased with that.
“The game was very tough for us in the first half, River had a lot of aggression, a lot of intensity. In the second half, we controlled the game a little bit better and after the red card it was much easier for us.”
What next?
Inter, who were beaten by Paris St-Germain in the Champions League final, will play Brazilian club Fluminense in the last 16 on Monday at 20:00 BST.
Monterrey beat Urawa Red Diamonds 4-0 to progress to the knockout stage by finishing second in Group E on five points – one point ahead of River Plate.
The Mexican side will face German club Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, 2 July at 02:00 BST in the knockout stage.
