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ESBarco earns River win in San Nicolás The attacking midfielder scored a great goal in the second half, earning River a 1-0 win over Universidad Católica, in the international friendly played on Saturday afternoon.
In order to maintain match practice and playing time on a Professional Football League-less weekend, River Plate was in control from the off: the first penetrating runs were possible thanks to a good collective play that culminated in Milton Casco failing to strike a left-footed shot. Then, Sebastián Boselli sent an on-target long pass to Miguel Borja, who skillfully collected it but struck it high over the goal.
River’s No. 9 had another chance, with a left-footed shot from the edge of the area which went just wide of the goal. Borja also took a header off a free kick from Nacho Fernández, while the away team barely threatened Ezequiel Centurión with a deflected header from Gary Kagelmacher. The first half saw two more chances for River: Esequiel Barco struck a deflected shot off a series of rebounds, and Borja struck a cross-shot that went just wide.
In the second half, Universidad Católica had the first dangerous chance, with a free kick from Bryan Rovira that went wide of Centurión’s goal. River responded quickly and celebrated: Barco set up an excellent solo play on the left side and tucked a low right-footed shot just inside Thomas Gillier's right post. River almost scored the second goal, with a tight shot from Bruno Zuculini, who put on the River jersey again after recovering from his injury.
Matías Suárez got some minutes of playing time and made some of his skillful moves. Andrés Herrera had a chance to set the score at 2-0, but his shot deflected off a rival defender. The rest of the match went smoothly for River. Demichelis’ team maintained a good position on the field and won the international friendly. On Sunday, September 17th, River will host Arsenal to resume the Professional League Cup.
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