Urawa Almost Played Inter Milan to a Shock Result, But Inter Took The Spoils in The Final Minutes

The summer solstice in Seattle was a cold, cloudy, and drizzly Saturday afternoon. Inter Milan and Urawa Red Diamonds kicked off the summer season with a Club World Cup clash that ended in a close 2-1 victory to Inter Milan. The winning goal was a last minute heart breaker for Urawa, ending their Club World Cup group stage aspirations. There were many Inter Milan shirts spotted in the stadium, but it was the Urawa Reds’ supporters section that showed up in full voice and numbers. Since the match was on a weekend, Lumen Field was significantly fuller than the previous River Plate vs Urawa Reds match, hosting 25,090 supporters.

Urawa went into the Inter Milan fixture requiring a result to guarantee that their Club World Cup lives remain active into the final group stage game. Manager Maciej Skorza sent out the exact same starting players as he did against River Plate, starting high performers like last match’s goal scorer Yusuke Matsuo, captain Marius Hoibraten, defensive midfielders Samuel Gustafson and Kaito Yasui, and wingers Ryoma Watanabe and Takuro Kaneko.

Aimee Worthington / Area Sports Network

Inter Milan, going into Saturday with only one point, did not hold back with their world class lineup by starting regulars like Yan Sommer, Stefan de Virj, and captain Lautaro Martinez. New Inter signees Luis Henrique and Nicola Zalewski were also given a start against Urawa.

Inter Milan kept most of the possession in the first five minutes, where Urawa was focused on containing the pressure as the Serie A and UEFA Champions League runners’ up were trying to find an opening. As Inter Milan kept possession, attacking the Urawa supporters’ end of the stadium, the nearby supporters were continuously jeering and whistling at the Inter players.

However, Inter Milan were left shocked in the 11^th minute as it was the Japanese side that scored first despite having only 12% possession at the time. Ryoma Watanabe made the Brougham End erupt in red, white, and black as the Urawa Reds took the lead over Inter Milan. The goal happened through a square ball into the Inter box, and Watanabe’s one-touch finished beat Yann Sommer.

Aimee Worthington / Area Sports Network

Watanabe spoke after the match, commenting the possession expectations going into the game, where after receiving the translation to English, the goal scorer expected the possession would be very little for Urawa and a scarce amount of chances at most, but also felt that his side should have had more created opportunities to attack Inter's final third.

Inter Milan almost struck back after they hit the crossbar off a lofted cross and a powerful, crisp header by Lautaro Martinez kept the woodwork shaking.

As the match progressed through the second half, Urawa kept containing Inter’s pressure and occasionally breaking through to find a goal opportunity. Inter kept pressing shot after shot but could not get a single opportunity on target by the 70^th minute. Inter Milan, however, finally broke through their deadlock at the 77^th after a magnificent low bicycle kick from Lautaro Martinez beat goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa.

Aimee Worthington / Area Sports Network 

Inter Milan stole all three points in the final minutes of second half stoppage time, where off a rebound off a Reds defender, Valentin Carboni slotted the ball into Nishikawa’s bottom-right corner from close range, killing any hopes Urawa had at finishing in the top two.

Inter Milan's next game is against River Plate at Lumen Field and Urawa will play Monterrey at the Rose Bowl on June 25th for the final group stage match.