Francesco Esposito scored his first competitive goal for Inter Milan in the 72nd minute and Alessandro Bastoni added insurance in second-half stoppage time to seal a 2-0 victory over nine-man River Plate in Seattle on Sunday, giving the Italian club the top spot in Group E.
The 19-year-old Esposito scored in just his second career appearance for Inter, having found the net 17 times on loan with Spezia in Serie B last season. Baston’s rare late foray into the opponent’s box assured Inter Milan (2-0-1, 7 points) a round-of-16 clash against Group F runner-up Fluminense on Monday in Charlotte.
Gonzalo Montiel became the second man sent off for River Plate (1-1-1, 4 points) when he picked up his second booking after Bastoni’s goal. It came at the end of an evening that saw this side become the second from Argentina eliminated in as many days after Boca Juniors failed to move on from Group C.
Monterrey (1-0-2, 5 points) claimed second place in Group E by defeating Urawa Red Diamonds 4-0 on Wednesday in Pasadena, Calif.
Petar Sucic set up Esposito with an incisive run from the left and a well-timed pass into the box. Then Esposito also made a clever cut with the ball to elude two River defenders before finishing low past Franco Armani.
River went down a man in the 66th minute when Lucas Martinez Quarta hauled down Henrikh Mkhitaryan to deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, after Mkhitaryan snuck up and forced the defender into a turnover.
Before that point, Inter had already been supplying most of the pressure, with Lautaro Martinez narrowly failing to convert a pair of excellent chances.
In the 51st minute, he had Armani well beaten but saw his low strike from the edge of the penalty area strike the left post.
In the 55th, he was even closer to the goal after reaching Matteo Darmian’s through ball, but this time drove his effort straight into Armani’s palms.
Then Martinez Quarta’s dismissal came only moments after River wasted arguably its best chance of the game, with Facundo Colidio failing to get any power on a header from an excellent position and Yann Sommer making an easy save.
Inter’s increased pressure halftime followed a first 45 minutes with few clear chances.
River had the only effort on target before the break when Franco Mastantuono’s long-range effort was easy work for Sommer.
For Inter, Esposito saw his shot in the box blocked in the 26th minute after played into a dangerous area by Nicolo Barella’s cross.
–Field Level Media
