Inter Milan kept their hopes of winning the Club World Cup alive by coming from behind to snatch a late victory against Urawa Red Diamonds in Seattle.
Ryoma Watanabe’s 11th-minute strike looked to have earned the Japanese side a shock victory, but Lautaro Martinez’s spectacular overhead kick and Valentin Carboni’s stoppage-time strike eliminated the Japanese side from the competition.
Inter – playing under Cristian Chivu for the second time after Simone Inzaghi’s departure this month – dominated the first half but paid the price for failing to track Watanabe’s run when the winger rounded off a slick counter-attack with a low finish.
Inter captain Martinez was unfortunate to see his header crash off the crossbar eight minutes later, but on the whole Inter’s finishing was poor with all nine of their attempts in the first half missing the target.
Inter ramped up the pressure in the second half with 12 shots, including Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s effort that missed the target with the goal gaping.
Urawa – who failed to qualify for this season’s AFC Champions League – maintained their defensive discipline while retaining a threat on the break, with Watanabe blazing over from a five-on-three situation with 20 minutes left.
They held out until the 77th minute, when Martinez produced a sublime overhead kick from a corner to drag Inter level.
With Urawa desperately hanging on, Inter substitute Carboni pounced on a rebound in the second minute of stoppage time to spark wild celebrations.
What was the main talking point?
For much of the match it felt like a famous Urawa victory would be the main post-match talking point, but Carboni’s late winner revived an Inter team whose poor end to the season looked set to continue.
Chivu’s side looked sluggish and unimaginative for much of the night, but Martinez’s acrobatic equaliser seemed to spark them into life.
Urawa deserve credit for their resilience and threat on the counter-attack – they certainly showed what tournament outsiders are capable of.
The celebrations after Carboni’s goal showed what progressing in the competition means to Inter, as did the crestfallen reactions of the Urawa players when their elimination was confirmed.
Which players stood out?
Though it was an underwhelming performance on the whole from Inter, Martinez’s grit and fight shone through, as they always do.
Nicolo Barella was tidy in midfield, while Kristjan Asllani did try to make things happen, even if all four of his shots were blocked or wayward.
Urawa’s winger Watanabe and Takuro Kaneko were their main outlets on the break. Though the former scored, he could have killed Inter’s comeback before it began had he finished a one-on-one at 1-0.
The standout stats
Right until the dying moments the game had all the ingredients of a classic smash and grab.
Urawa had just 18% possession on the night, and completed 113 passes to Inter’s 746. But in front of goal the Japanese got two of their four attempts on target, with Inter landing just four of their 26.
It was the 26th of those that decided things – after absorbing so much pressure for so long, no player in white was on hand to pick up 20-year-old substitute Carboni and stop him scoring his first goal for Inter.
What next for these teams?
Victory moves Inter top of Group E with four points after two games, while Urawa are bottom and cannot qualify for the last 16.
Inter face Argentina’s River Plate on Thursday in their final group game (02:00 BST), with Urawa facing Mexican side Monterrey at the same time.