River Defeats Olimpo at Home

River played a very interesting match against Olimpo this afternoon at the Monumental Stadium. With one goal scored by Adalberto Roman, River gained an important three points in the Apertura tournament. The main goal by Coach J. J. Lopez was to obtain as much points as possible to escape relegation and his players were able to do just that. River did have moments where they could have easily scored more goals, but Olimpo had the same number of chances on their side and almost ruined the win. Juan Pablo Carrizo became a hero by blocking numerous shots by Olimpo, especially shots that were guaranteed goals if he wasn’t focused on the match.

At the beginning of the match, tension on the pitch got the best of the players. River struggled to maintain possession of the ball, and almost caused some drastic mistakes that would have allowed the visiting team to score early. Ariel Ortega and Matias Almeyda were once again the pillars of the squad, both dedicated to control the defensive and offensive area, respectively. Mariano Pavone fought so hard to score, and he did have a few chances but he still is fighting an inconsistent pattern with his injury. One could see the frustration on his face as his missed chances created uneasiness on his mind, but ‘the Tank’ moved forward and concentrated well.

Adalberto Roman, River’s Paraguayan defender, scored his second goal with a beautiful header past Olimpo’s goalkeeper at the 30 minute mark. Roman has been doing a great job on defense, but he was determined to keep his scoring momentum alive since arriving at the squad. He isn’t the tallest player on the squad, but his height doesn’t stop him from scoring. During River’s weekly training sessions, he scores quite often but he has only been able to score twice during official matches. Nonetheless, his goal earned a River an important win at home.

Right before the start of the second half, Coach J.J. Lopez was ejected from the match due to the team’s late arrival to the pitch after halftime. A rule strongly enforced by referees in this Apertura tournament, a team’s coach will be ejected from the match if the squad is not on the pitch before the fifteen minutes are over. Despite this negative start to the second half, River constantly attacked Olimpo in search for the second goal. Diego Buonanotte (replacing Ariel Ortega) and Mariano Pavone missed opportunities left and right, causing frustration on the attack. Olimpo took advantage of their mistakes and clearly moved the ball up the pitch where Juan Pablo Carrizo awaited them. Carrizo saved many, many shots that were almost inside the net. His actions basically won the match for River.

Although Olimpo isn’t a strong team in the standings, they still posed a threat since they are also fighting for a spot to escape the relegation zone. River can now start the week with a positive mind, and focus on winning the last three remaining matches of the Apertura tournament.