Lukaku fires Inter to 3-2 win over Gladbach to avoid CL exit

MÖNCHENGLADBACH, Germany (AP) - Romelu Lukaku scored twice as Inter Milan beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-2 on Tuesday to avoid being eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage for the third year in a row.

Inter took an early lead through Matteo Darmian before Gladbach leveled with the last act of the first half thanks to Alassane Pléa's header.

Lukaku put Inter back in control when he powered through the Gladbach defense to score in the 64th and 73rd minutes.

Pléa scored a second off Marcus Thuram's pass to give Gladbach hope of a comeback and briefly thought he'd leveled with a hat trick. But the third goal was ruled out after a lengthy video review determined that the offside Gladbach forward Breel Embolo had distracted the goalkeeper.

Gladbach stays top of the exceptionally tight Group B, which continued its run of surprise results earlier Tuesday when Shakhtar Donetsk beat Real Madrid 2-0. A draw at Madrid in the final round next week will be enough to see Gladbach through to the knockout stage for the first time in the Champions League era.

Inter will advance with a win over Shakhtar next week unless Gladbach and Madrid draw in the other game. The Italian club hasn't reached the knockout stage since the 2011-12 season and finished third in its group in each of the last two seasons.

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