Inter Milan survive scare to oust Urawa Reds with late winner

SEATTLE: Inter Milan were given a real scare by Urawa Reds but managed to grab a late winner to secure a 2-1 victory at the Club World Cup on Saturday. 

The Japanese side took an early lead, but Inter fought back, with Valentin Carboni scoring in stoppage time to knock Urawa out of the tournament.

Ryoma Watanabe scored an early opener for Urawa Reds, who were backed by a noisy contingent of their supporters at Lumen Field in Seattle.

But captain Lautaro Martinez, who had netted Inter’s equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Monterrey of Mexico in their first match at the tournament, repeated the feat to level the match with 12 minutes remaining.

Carboni, the 20-year-old Argentine who had not featured for Inter in over two years, then appeared in the 92nd minute to give the Italians victory.

“Our opponents play with their hearts and to counter that as a team we need to play with more pride, be humble and know how to suffer,” Martinez told broadcaster DAZN after Inter were made to work hard for the win.

The result leaves Cristian Chivu’s team in a strong position to qualify for the last 16, while a second defeat in as many matches means Urawa Reds are eliminated.

“Our emotion is very bad after this game. We are out of the tournament so now we can only fight in the last game to achieve our one and only win,” said their Polish coach Maciej Skorza.

Winners of the Asian Champions League in 2023, Urawa Reds were looking to bounce back from a 3-1 loss against River Plate in their opening game, and they took the lead in the 11th minute.

Takuro Kaneko created the goal with a strong run down the right before his low cross was swept in first-time by Watanabe.

Martinez struck the crossbar with a header for Inter shortly after, and it looked as though the UEFA Champions League runners-up might suffer a shock defeat when Henrikh Mkhitaryan missed the target from a good position in the second half.

But Inter got the equaliser in the 78th minute when a Nicolo Barella corner from the left was deftly turned in by Martinez, who scored with an overhead kick as he fell backwards.

The stage was then set for Carboni, who had not played a competitive match since early October after sustaining a serious knee injury while on loan at Marseille.

He was on hand to sidefoot into the net after a Petar Sucic shot struck teammate Francesco Esposito and the ball broke to Carboni inside the area.