Inter Milan have beaten River Plate 2-0 on matchday 3 of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Group E Group Stage match at the Lumen Field in Washington, USA on Wednesday.

In the first half, Meza brought down Lautaro and a verbal fight broke out between the two sides. In the second half, Lautaro's shot hit the post, Martínez Quarta maliciously tackled Mkhitaryan and was sent off, and Pio Esposito volleyed into the net. At the crucial moment, Bastoni scored with a long shot. In the end, Inter Milan defeated River Plate 2-0 and successfully advanced to the round of 16s where they will face Fluminense. After this round of games, I Nerazzurri won the group with 7 points; River Plate who fell short slipped to third place in the group with 4 points and could only be eliminated.

First Half

In the 11th minute, Henrikh Mkhitaryan passes horizontally from the left wing. and Kristjan Asllani quickly followed up and upon receiving the pass, took a long shot with his left foot at the edge of the penalty area, but his shot flew high out of the pitch.

Soon after, Marcos Acuña passes horizontally from the front, Franco Mastantuono quickly followed up, stopped the ball, adjusted his angle before taking a long shot with his left foot from the edge of the penalty area, but his shot was saved by Yann Sommer.

In the 43rd minute, Federico Dimarco crossed into the box from the edge of the byline at the left wing. Francesco Pio Esposito quickly followed up and upon receiving the pass, half-volleyed with his right foot at a very close distance in the box, but his shot flew high out of the pitch.

In the first minute of the first half stoppage time, Lautaro Martínez was brought down from behind by Maximiliano Meza when he was attacking at the front. He was provoked by Acuña, and the former had a quarrel with Acuña!

At the end of the first half, Inter Milan and River Plate entered the halftime break with a goalless draw.

Second half

Both teams switched sides as the match continued. In the 51st minute, Inter Milan launched a quick counterattack. Asllani intercepted the ball and made a through pass from his own back half. Lautaro Martínez quickly followed up, got the ball and dribbled into the center of the box before shoveling the ball with his right foot. Unfortunately, his shot hit the bottom left corner of the post and bounced off. I Nerazzurri missed a golden opportunity to break the deadlock!

4 minutes later, Matteo Darmian made a through pass from the right wing. After successfully beating the the offside trap, Lautaro quickly followed up, got the ball and took a few steps before volleying with his right foot against the outrushing Franco Armani from the right side of the box, but his shot was saved by the latter.

In the 65th minute, Mkhitaryan was tackled from behind by Lucas Martínez Quarta after intercepting the ball at the front. The referee immediately blew his whistle and sent the latter off with a red card! River Plate was forced to finish the game with 10-men!

7 minutes later, Petar Sučić passes horizontally from the left side of the box, Francesco Pio Esposito stopped the ball before volleying the ball into the bottom right corner of the the net with his right foot from the center of the box. Inter Milan broke the deadlock to take a 1-0 lead! This is the Italy U21s international center wonderkid's 20th individual goal of the in all competitions this season!

In the 90th minute, Sučić passes horizontally from the front. Henrikh Mkhitaryan quickly followed up, got the ball and took a few steps before volleying with his left foot against the outrushing Armani from the left side of the box, but his shot flew high out of the pitch.

In the 3rd minute of injury time, Inter Milan made a deadly quick counter attack. Alessandro Bastoni intercepted the ball and dribbled to the edge of the penalty area before striking the ball into the lower center net with his left foot from long shot, Inter Milan secured the victory at 2-0!

When the final whistle is blown, Inter Milan defeated River Plate 2-0.

It is worth mentioning that because they were unwilling to accept that they have lost, Acuña and his teammate Gonzalo Montiel chased Denzel Dumfries and wanted to beat the latter as soon as the game ended. Fortunately, with the persuasion of the players from both teams, Dumfries was able to enter the locker room safely and the situation did not escalate further. Despite this, Montiel was still given a red card by the referee for his behaviour!