River did everything, but it drew at the Monumental Marcelo Gallardo’s team created many goal situations, it was not able to define the game, and Sarmiento drew during the last minutes.

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During the first minutes, River knocked down Sarmiento. With Ignacio Fernández very blunt and sharp, Marcelo Gallardo’s team owned the right attack area and played dangerously near Sarmiento’s goal.

The first risky situation came with a kick by Jorge Moreira stopped by Julio Chiarini. Then, Milton Casco played on the left side and kicked the ball to the center of the area, though Lucas Alario did not continue his shot. Gonzalo Martínez also tried with a free shot.

Meanwhile, Sarmiento unsettled River with a deflected kick by Gervasio Núñez in the heart of the area and with another shot by Marcos Astina, for which Augusto Batalla stood very confident near his right post. Near the end, River was clearer: a half-turn by Alario, which Chiarini stopped right on the spot near the left post.

During the second half, the first goal opportunity was for the visitor team with a kick by Adrián Balboa that deflected and went near Batalla’s goal. After that, it was all for River. El Millonario found its goal with a great definition by Sebastián Driussi (the tournament’s top scorer with 13 goals). Since then, River tried to score again by all means and it deserved to widen its advantage.

Alario, with a header, Driussi, with a powerful kick, Carlos Auzqui, with a scissor kick, Rodrigo Mora and Fernández had all clear situations to score once again for River. Nevertheless, after an isolated corner shot, Lucas Pérez Godoy found a bounce and scored the unfair draw at the Monumental. Now, El Millonario will visit Emelec from Ecuador on a new date of the CONMEBOL Libertadores Bridgestone Cup.

SUMMARY

RIVER PLATE: Augusto Batalla; Jorge Moreira, Jonatan Maidana, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Milton Casco; Ignacio Fernández, Leonardo Ponzio (C), Ariel Rojas, Gonzalo Martínez; Lucas Alario and Sebastián Driussi. COACH: Marcelo Gallardo.

Substitutes: Maximiliano Velazco, Luciano Lollo, Camilo Mayada, Iván Rossi, Exequiel Palacios, Carlos Auzqui and Rodrigo Mora.

Substitutions: Mora for Alario, Auzqui for Martínez.

SARMIENTO: Julio Chiarini; Maximiliano Méndez, Nicolás Bianchi Arce (C), Francisco Dutari, Guillermo Cosaro; Lucas Pérez Godoy, Hamilton Pereira, Marcos Astina; Gonzalo Di Renzo, Gervasio Núñez and Adrián Balboa. COACH: Fernando Quiroz.

Substitutes: Javier Burrai, Lucas Suárez, Guillermo Ferracuti, Renzo Spinaci, Rodrigo Depetris, Patricio Vidal and Héctor Cuevas.

Substitutions: Vidal for Di Renzo, Depetris for Astina, and Cuevas for Núñez.

Goals: Driussi (RP); Pérez Godoy (S).

Booked: Casco (RP); Núñez (S).

Referee: Fernando Espinoza.

Assistant Referees: Lucas Germanotta and Facundo Rodríguez.

Fourth Official: Ariel Penel.

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