Second half goals from Rogelio Funes Mori and Juan Manuel Diaz gave River a 2-0 win over Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata. In the first half, Leandro Chichizola stopped a penalty as River debuted the new striped jersey with three points.
River was determined to put an end to the run of draws today against Gimnasia. With 5 new faces in the starting lineup, the team looked solid from the start of the game. Last minute substitutes Mauro Diaz and Funes Mori were sent on for Fernando Cavenaghi and Martin Aguirre (who would come on in the second half), and quickly had the Gimnasia keeper trembling. It was Funes Mori who would find himself alone just a few feet away from the keeper early on. That shot inexplicably went right at the keeper and everyone feared it would be more of the same from River’s center forward.
While River dominated the run of play, it was Gimnasia who should have taken the lead in the first half. Gimnasia only saw River’s area a few times during the whole game, but found a penalty when Juan Manuel Diaz committed a clear foul just inside the box. Moments later, Chichizola came up huge and stopped Gonzalo Vargas’ shot keeping the score 0-0.
The first half closed with River affirming themselves more and more on the attack. Alejandro Dominguez began to find Funes Mori more often, and Ezequiel Cirigliano took over the midfield. As the half closed, the referee didn’t see a clear red card when one of Gimnasia’s defenders elbowed Funes Mori in the face.
That elbow must have woken up the forward, because just three minutes into the second half he would pop a loose ball over his defender and then send a scorching shot past the keeper from the doorstep of the Gimnasia area. Needless to say, the goal brought a lot of relief not only to the River faithful, but also to Funes Mori’s coaches and teammates who insisted the forward didn’t deserve the harsh criticism he had been given over the past year.
In the 23rd minute River would seal the victory. Chori Dominguez placed a free kick into the area for Juan Manuel Diaz to head the ball home and make up for that unnecessary penalty in the first half. 2-0 and now more than ever it seemed River could breathe easily, something they have not been able to do very often this season. Five minutes from time Matias Almeyda brought Funes Mori off for a much deserved round of applause.
In his post game comments Almeyda said he was happy with the win but more importantly, the team played well again, completely dominating the match for the better part of the second half. He also praised his striker who not only scored the goal, but also had his best showing in a long time. The win sends River to the top of the table for the time being as Gimnasia Jujuy’s game was postponed. Next is another game at San Lorenzo, this time as the visiting team against another opponent River used to face in the first division, Ferro Carril Oeste.
