EN
ESRiver wins and widens its lead at the top The team managed by Martín Demichelis had a great night at the Mâs Monumental stadium: with great football and many scoring chances, River beat Defensa y Justicia 1-0 with a goal from Nicolás De La Cruz.
With great momentum, River didn’t let Defensa y Justicia play from the off, cornering it on its half of the field. At the start, each team had its own chance to score: Lucas Beltrán and Nicolás Fernández struck shots on goal that went wide. Then, No. 18 set up Nacho Fernández for a goal, but his toe punt smashed against Ezequiel Unsain’s left goalpost. Next, Franco Armani made a low save on a forced shot by Andrés Herrera.
The scoring chances kept coming for River: the rival keeper prevented goals from being scored by Nacho Fernández and Beltrán almost scored a great goal, but Alexis Soto saved his shot on the line. On the last two chances, no one managed to collect Herrera's dangerous cross from the right wing, and Unsain saved a good right-footed shot from Esequiel Barco (Nacho collected the rebound but his shot went high).
At the start of the second half, Nacho Fernández controlled the ball in the box, but failed to strike comfortably. River was fully invested in the attack and got the well-deserved lead with a subtle left-footed shot from Nico De La Cruz, off a pass from Pablo Solari on the right wing. A few minutes later, Rodrigo Aliendro almost widened the lead with a good shot from outside the box, which went just wide of Unsain’s right post.
Defensa y Justicia had a one-time chance to score the equalizer, when Santiago Solari made a run upfield, but his shot went wide of Armani’s near post. In the end, Barco burst into the box and struck a left-footed shot that was saved by the rival keeper. With this win, River now sits at the top of the table with a seven-point lead. On Thursday, the team will play at home against Instituto.
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