'Battle of Seattle' as Inter down nine-man River to advance
Teenage striker Francesco Esposito and Alessandro Bastoni scored the goals to settle a physical contest which saw River finish with nine men.
The final whistle was marred by an ugly melee which saw players from both sides clash as they sprinted off the pitch, with missiles being thrown by River's fans at Seattle's Lumen Field.
"We got the job done, that's the most important thing," Inter manager Cristian Chivu said afterwards.
"That game was very tough for us -- in the first half they had a lot of aggression, a lot of intensity. But in the second half we controlled the game better and in the end won."
Earlier, the 19-year-old Esposito bagged his first goal for Serie A giants Inter with a lovely strike in the 72nd minute to put the Italians 1-0 up.
The tall teenage striker collected a pass from Petar Sucic, elegantly lost his marker before drilling a shot into the bottom right-hand corner past River goalkeeper Franco Armani.
Bastoni then bagged Inter's second deep into injury time to seal a win which sets up a last 16 meeting against Brazil's Fluminense next Monday.
Mexico's Monterrey, 4-0 winners over already-eliminated Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds, finished as runners-up in Group E and will face Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 on July 2.
River's campaign ended in disarray, with defender Lucas Martinez Quarta sent off for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity in the 66th minute.
Argentina international Gonzalo Montiel then followed his team-mate off the field in injury time after picking up a second yellow card
Inter and River Plate had gone into the game with the Group E standings on a knife edge.
But after Monterrey swept into an early 3-0 lead against Urawa in Pasadena, the stakes soon became clear in Seattle, where the winner would advance provided the result in California held.
After a scrappy first half, Inter began to get on top in the second half against a River side who struggled to create much of note in the final third.
Inter striker Lautaro Martinez squandered a golden chance in the 55th minute, shooting straight at Armani after cutting side.
The game tilted decisively in Inter's favour in the 65th minute when Martinez Quarta was dismissed for bringing down Henrikh Mkhitaryan as the former Manchester United player went down on goal.
The game opened up for Inter after that, Esposito giving the Italians the lead seven minutes later before Bastoni sealed it.
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