River ranked second in its area by beating Defense and Justice in a great game
River Plate beat Defense and Justice this Saturday night as visitors by 2-1, in a splendid show that offered the match in Florencio Varela for the eighth date of zone 1 of the LPF Cup, in which placed second with 14 points, two behind the leader Racing Club.
Enzo Fernández marked the opening for the “Millionaire” at 40 minutes of the first half; in the second Santiago Simón increased to 18m and discounted Walter Bou for the “Halcón”, at 27m.
With this victory, River cut a streak of three games without beating Defense -one draw and two losses-, while it was the first time that Marcelo Gallardo was able to beat Sebastián Beccacece, who led the “Halcón” in 2019 and 2021 produced both falls.
On the other hand, the locals fell in the tournament after six matches, with four wins and two draws, while leaving the 14-date undefeated at home.
In the run-up to the match, the local leadership offered recognition with plaques to three River players who were defending champions of the 2020 Copa Sudamericana: Enzo Fernández, David Martínez and Braian Romero -he was left out of the substitute bench-.
In addition, for the 40 years of the Malvinas deed, a tribute was paid to the former combatants gathered at the Florencio Varela War Veterans Center, with the peculiarity that one of them made the previous draw to determine which team he chose. goal for the start and in that act he received the promise of River’s captain, Enzo Pérez, to give him his shirt at the end of the match.
At the same time, the Chilean defender Paulo Díaz was about to be replaced by Jonathan Maidana when he suffered an upset stomach, moments before the game began, although he finally remained on the field, alerted Marcelo Gallardo in case he had to resort to the change.
The actions began with enormous intensity due to the proposal of both sides, as expected, with greater depth from the visitor, which generated the first concerns for the Varel defense.
Until the ‘Halcón’ knew how to balance the development and was the one who conceived three very dangerous charges so that Miguel Merentiel surpassed the ‘millionaire’ defense and forced providential exits from the goalkeeper Franco Armani.
In this constant back and forth, it was the River Enzo Fernández midfielder who had the best position to mark the opening, when his shot from the edge of the area crashed into the crossbar of the goal defended by the surprised Ezequiel Unsain (21 min ).
The same midfielder was later able to make the conversion to put River ahead, when his team had come to dominate the game in the last quarter of an hour of the initial stage.
As a result of an error by defender Adonis Frías, who was emboldened when he advanced from the back eluding three opponents, but lost the ball in the center of the field when he wanted to dribble to a fourth, a reply arose that culminated in Fernández’s charge on the left to define against the right post of the local fence (40 min).
At the beginning of the second inning, Núñez’s men once again imposed conditions and twice in the first 10 minutes they hit Unsain’s beard, who avoided another fall against shots from Santiago Simón and Julián Álvarez.
After cardboard, those led by Sebastián Beccacece were able to generate a deep reply that was defined by the Colombian Raúl Loaiza with a right cross, which crashed into the right pipe of the Armani goal (12 min).
Thus, the development of an outstanding show continued, due to its emotional and electrifying nature and the healthy intention of the two teams to give the ball good treatment and circulation. And so River increased the lead at 18 with what was Santiago Simón’s first goal in the first division.
The actions became much more exciting when Bou managed to score the discount for those from the south of Greater Buenos Aires (27 min), by circumventing the bailing of the rearguard of those from the red band and in a brave action together with Milton Casco, he managed take the shot that hit the left post before entering the opponent’s fence.
The conversion had to be validated by the intervention of the video assistant referee (VAR), in charge of Mauro Vigliano, due to the dubious position of the former Boca Juniors striker, who certified that he was well qualified.
From then until the end the score remained open, although Unsain emerged as a figure, along with Simón and Fernández on the winning side, by disrupting several shots by the ‘millionaire’s’ attackers, who ultimately turned out to be a complete winner in a real match.
For the ninth date, River will receive Argentinos Juniors, at the Monumental; while Defense and Justice will visit Talleres, in Córdoba.
Formations
Defense and Justice: Ezekiel Unsain; Nicolás Tripicchio, Adonis Frías, Juan Pablo Rodríguez and Alexis Soto; Kevin Gutierrez and Raul Loaiza; Francisco Pizzini, Walter Bou and Carlos Rotondi; Michael Merentiel. DT: Sebastian Beccacece.
River Plate: Franco Armani; Robert Rojas, Paulo Diaz, David Martinez and Milton Casco; Enzo Perez; Santiago Simón, Enzo Fernández, Nicolás De la Cruz and Juan Fernando Quintero; Julian Alvarez. DT: Marcelo Gallardo.
Synthesis
Goal in the first half: 40m, Fernandez (RP).
Goals in the second half: 18m, Simon (PR); and 27m, Bou (D&J).
Changes in the second half: 19m, Agustín Palavecino for Quintero (RP): 21m, Gabriel Hachen for Merentiel (D&J); 22m, Bruno Zuculini for Pérez (RP); 27m, Braian Neck by Pizzini; and Tomás Galvan for Loaiza (D&J); 32m, Agustín Fontana for Rotondi (D&J); 39m, José Paradela for Simón; and Matías Suárez for De La Cruz (RP).
Admonished: Zuculini (RP).
Referee: Patrick Loustau.
Stadium: Norberto ‘Tito’ Tomaghello (Defense and Justice).
