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ESRiver won a historic victory at the Monumental Stadium With only 11 players and Enzo Pérez as goalkeeper, Marcelo Gallardo’s team beat Independiente Santa Fe 2-1, writing a glorious new page in its history.
On an unusual night, due to the COVID sick leaves, only 11 players were available and River Plate showed once again why it is the greatest team. Apart from playing with a new team, with two youth players that hadn’t yet made their debuts, Enzo Pérez (with some muscle pain due to Sunday’s match) had to wear the keeper’s gloves since the first minute.
The beginning of the match was frenetic, full of excitement. Agustín Fontana went one-on-one against the keeper, after a pass from Julián Álvarez, but his shot narrowly missed Leandro Castellano’s left goalpost. Right after that, a defensive mistake was made, Fontana had another chance to open the scoring, but the rival keeper blocked his shot. Nonetheless, Fabrizio Angileri kicked the rebound, setting the score at 1-0. The team was still celebrating the first goal when the second one was scored. David Martínez made a long and precise pass to Julián, who controlled the ball in the box and fired an impressive left-footed shot that entered the goal near Castellanos’ right post.
El Millonario went for more: Fontana scored a goal off a cross from the left side, but his shot was disallowed due to an offside position. River’s defense was solid and Enzo participated confidently; he even cleared crosses and a long-range shot by Jeisson Palacios. River could have scored the third goal before the end of the first half. First, Álvarez executed a double play, but the keeper responded well in both cases. Then, in a spectacular run up the field by Angileri, who looked for a teammate when entering the box, Independiente Santa Fe's defense intercepted the ball.
In the first minutes of the second half, Santa Fe took over the match, but River wasn’t disturbed and remained determined and precise. In a counterattack play, Álvarez fired a high shot off a backheel pass from Fontana in the box. The away team had a scoring chance thanks to a shot by Kelvin Osorio, but it didn’t threaten Pérez’s goal. Due to the understandable fatigue River Plate players were experiencing because it wasn’t possible to make substitutions, the Colombian team reduced the deficit thanks to Kelvin Osorio.
River held on until the end and won a historic victory, which has also taken the team to the top of Group D in the CONMEBOL Libertadores. On the next and last matchday, it will play against Fluminense, at the Monumental Stadium, seeking to qualify for the next stage.
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