Goal-filled night at home Another evening full of football and goals at the Monumental Stadium: with goals scored by Enzo Fernandez and De La Cruz, River beat Fortaleza 2-0 and claimed three points in the CONMEBOL Libertadores.

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Before the first minute had elapsed, River made an interesting penetrating play, but Fortaleza responded with two very clear plays on the left-hand side: in the first one, Milton Casco was quick to prevent Renato Kayzer from scoring on the line; in the other one, Moises avoided the defense, made an overlapping run, and struck a left-footed shot that Franco Armani was able to save comfortably at the center of the goal. After overcoming those setbacks, River took control of the match.

Nicolas De La Cruz was the first to try, with two shots on goal that failed to threaten Max Walef’s goal. River set the score at 1-0 after the Uruguayan player recovered the ball and Enzo Fernandez struck a shot at the edge of the box. Then, Andres Herrera and Matias Suarez set up a good combination play; while Armani made an excellent save on a long-range shot by Yago Pikachu.

After another attempt by De La Cruz, River’s No. 11 set the score at 2-0 with a spectacular volley off a corner kick. Before the end of the first half, Suarez was very close to scoring the third goal, with a toe-poke goal inside the box, that failed to enter the net due to the rival keeper's good reflexes. On Fortaleza’s last set piece, Armani made a confident save on a header.

Just like in the first half, River had a chance to score in the first minute: Julian ran up the center of the field and struck a right-footed shot from outside the box that went just wide. River’s No. 9 had another clear chance, but the keeper prevented him from scoring with a good save on his left goalpost. River kept trying: Casco sent a cross from the left-hand side into the box, Suarez jumped but his good header went wide.

Casco almost scored the third goal with his left foot, but his incredible shot smashed against the crossbar. Suarez was substituted by Juanfer Quintero, who almost scored the first chance he got: he stood at the edge of the box and struck a left-footed shot that the rival keeper turned into a corner kick.

With these three points, Gallardo's team now has six points and shares first place in the group with Colo-Colo, River’s next CONMEBOL Libertadores rival. Regarding the local tournament, River will visit Banfield on Sunday night.

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