River Plate obtained its first three points of the 2011 Torneo Clausura tournament by defeating Huracan at home in the Monumental Stadium. The home opener was anxiously awaited by millions of fans worldwide, and those lucky enough to see it in person had the opportunity to see Erik Lamela and Paulo Ferrari scored in the second. Although Mariano Pavone had only a few chances to score today, he participated in assisting his teammates to score with great precision. This match put River up in the standings in the end of Week 2, and it provided a great morale boost for the squad.
The first half of the match was a bit frustrating for River. There were moments in which River was about to make a successful play and suddenly it felt apart. It could have been many factors, but the reality was that River needed to secure itself more confidence up the pitch. In one opportunity, Erik Lamela blasted a shot past Huracan’s goalkeeper but the ball ended up hitting the goalpost, and rebounding outside the goal area. It was moments like this that made me yell thousands of miles away, but I was hopeful that something good would come out of each missed opportunity. Coach J.J. Lopez used an interesting formation prior to the start of the match which drastically gave the squad an improved look from last week. Using a 4-5-1 formation, River managed to stay in attack mode for most of the match.
Once the second half was underway, it took only five minutes for River to get on the scoreboard. Off a wonderful collective passing play by Mariano Pavone, Erik Lamela put the ball in the back of the net with class. The Monumental Stadium erupted with cheer as the squad calmed the nerves of many. At the 60th minute of the match, Paulo Ferrari put a wonderful header past Huracan’s goalkeeper to extend the lead. Of course, Huracan tried to react quickly to the score and almost had a few chances to score, but Leandro Chichizola defended River’s goalposts with pure confidence. The young goalkeeper once again proved to Coach J.J. Lopez that his decision to keep him in the starting lineup was correct. The week finished in River’s favor, and it provided a great outlook for the upcoming week.
