Inter on Saturday came from behind to beat Urawa Red Diamonds and knock the Japanese side out of the FIFA Club World Cup, while Borussia Dortmund held off Mamelodi Sundowns to win a seven-goal thriller.
Fluminense rallied in the second half to beat Ulsan 4-2 and knock out the South Korean side, while Monterrey and River Plate ended goalless.
At Lumen Field in Seattle, Ryoma Watanabe scored an early opening goal for Urawa Reds, who were backed by a noisy contingent of supporters.
Photo: AFP
However, captain Lautaro Martinez — who scored Inter’s equalizer in their 1-1 draw with Monterrey of Mexico in their opening game — repeated the trick to level matters with a clever overhead kick 12 minutes from time.
Valentin Carboni became the unlikely hero, grabbing the winner two minutes into injury-time.
The 20-year-old Argentine had not played a competitive game since early October last year after sustaining a serious knee injury while on loan at Olympique de Marseille.
Carboni had not made an appearance for Inter in more than two years, but he was on to hand to side-foot home when the ball fell to him in the area.
“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.
The result left some Urawa fans in tears and Inter level on four points with River Plate with the two teams meeting next.
“I cannot find the words, I am so frustrated... We had the objective to go on to the next stage, so this loss is very hard for us,” Urawa goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa said. “But we still have one more game to go... There are many fans who have come all the way or [are] still remaining in Japan and cheering for us, so we would like to win for them.”
River Plate were let down by their finishing in a scrappy, foul-ridden encounter with Monterrey, who sit on two points.
Esteban Andrada, Monterrey’s Argentine keeper, made a series of saves while River’s forwards were unable to put away the few chances that came their way.
Monterrey could still make it into the last-16 if they beat Urawa and River or Inter win their game.
Earlier Jobe Bellingham got his first goal for Dortmund as his new club overcame stifling heat in Cincinnati, Ohio, to beat South Africa’s Sundowns 4-3 and move to four points from two matches in Group F.
“I’m sweating like I’ve just come out of a sauna,” Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said, when asked about the conditions in a game which started at midday. “It was tough going for both teams, but the opposition are used to it. We certainly didn’t give our best performance, but that wasn’t possible today.”
Sundowns will still go into their final game in Group F with a chance of qualifying for the last-16.
South Korea’s Ulsan gave Fluminense a real scare in their Group F clash at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, leading 2-1 until the 66th minute before the Brazilians ran out 4-2 winners, eliminating the K-League champions in the process.
Fluminense are on top of the group, level on 4 points with Dortmund ahead of their final game against South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns in Miami on Wednesday.
A win or draw for the Rio club in their final group game would ensure their passage into the last-16.
Additional reporting by AP
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