Inter scored twice late on to secure a 2-0 victory over nine-man River Plate to qualify for the Club World Cup's round of 16 as Group E winners.

They were set to head through as runners-up, but Francesco Pio Esposito and Alessandro Bastoni netted important goals in the second half.

There was little quality on show in the first half as the teams had a combined one shot on target, but Inter improved after the break, with Lautaro Martinez poking a shot against the right post 51 minutes in, before Franco Armani denied him with a smothering save just moments later.

Lucas Martinez Quarta was then shown a straight red card in the 66th minute after sliding in as the last man on the back of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, which opened some much-needed space for Inter.

Petar Sucic slid a lovely throughball into Esposito in the box, and the 19-year-old coolly stepped away from his marker to guide his first Inter goal into the bottom-right corner.

Mkhitaryan then blazed a shot over while one-on-one with Armani before Bastoni skipped over two sliding challenges to fire the goal that sealed all three points under the goalkeeper in stoppage time.

Gonzalo Montiel then received a second yellow card in the 95th minute for dissent, marking a disappointing end to the Club World Cup for River.

Inter go through as group winners on seven points, having enjoyed an unbeaten group stage, and will face Fluminense in the last 16.

Meanwhile, Monterrey qualified as group runners-up; having drawn their first two matches, the Mexican side recorded a 4-0 win over Urawa Reds in the final game to leapfrog River into second.

Data Debrief: Esposito shines for Inter

Esposito had never featured for Inter before the Club World Cup, but he has settled into the side nicely under Cristian Chivu.

Among players with at least one goal and one assist in the competition, only Jobe Bellingham (September 2005) is younger than Esposito (June 2005).

Inter were clinical; after failing to register a shot on target in the first half, they had just three in the second, but scored with two. They finished with 2.04 expected goals (xG) overall, compared to River's 0.59.