River beats Defensa y Justicia showing great character Marcelo Gallardo's team had a very good night, winning 2-1 as away team, and remains at the top of its group. The goal scorers were Enzo Fernandez and Santiago Simon.

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The opening 45 minutes were vibrant, with both teams pressing high up the pitch. River started on a better footing, with a high shot by Nicolas De La Cruz from outside the box, and an overlapping run by Milton Casco on the left-hand side that almost results in a 1-0 scoring, following a series of rebounds in Defensa y Justicia's goal area. River pressed up the pitch, but the home team didn't sit back and started threatening Franco Armani's goal.

Francisco Pizzini set up Miguel Merentiel for a goal, but the forward struck a deflected shot when faced by River’s keeper. Then, Defensa y Justicia’s No. 9 had two very clear scoring opportunities but failed to score. Gallardo's team responded with a great shot by Enzo Fernandez that smashed against Ezequiel Unsain’s goal’s right corner, and a pass to Julian Alvarez, off a right-hand play by Santiago Simon, that failed to find a teammate in the box.

River dominated the final minutes of the first half, with another scoring opportunity at the feet of De La Cruz, and the first goal scored by Fernandez off a pass from Simon after recovering the ball. They almost set the score at 2-0 after a clearance error by the home team: Simon was quick to strike a right-footed shot that went high.

At the start of the second half, River kept the same attitude and didn't take long to threaten the rival goal on the right-hand side thanks to a shot by Simon, but Simon made a two-part save. In the 55th minute, Quintero made an outstanding pass to Julian from outside the area, but Julian’s shot found the keeper standing in the right place. Defensa y Justicia responded with an outstanding and very powerful crossed right-footed shot by Raul Loaiza that smashed against one of the goalposts.

River scored the second goal before the 65th minute, thanks to a beautiful right-footed shot by Simon from outside the area, which was also the youth player's first official goal wearing the River jersey. Defensa y Justicia made another shot on goal thanks to Loaiza, but Armani made a good save on his left goalpost. The home team got one back after the VAR ruled against Walter Bou being in an off-side position when scoring a shot that bounced off Casco when Casco was trying to clear the ball.

River kept control of the ball, tried to widen the lead, and stayed safe in the defense. Once again, the team won three points, sitting second in Group A, with a total of 16 points, two points below Racing. River's next match will take place on Wednesday, the team’s CONMEBOL Libertadores debut in Peru, against Alianza Lima. Next weekend, it’ll welcome Argentinos Juniors at the Monumental Stadium.

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