River Plate and Velez Sarsfield gave their best effort in Liniers, with both teams walking out with a draw in front of a packed crowd. The highlight of the match was the return of Cristian Fabbiani to the Almafatini (Velez’s Stadium). If one goes back, one would remember that Cristian denied going further in his medical examination before officially signing a contract with Velez. Ever since then, there has been some anger against Cristian from both the Velez management and fans. This past Sunday was a cruel reminder that a “traitorous” act is not so easily forgotten. With River pumped from last week’s win, the anticipation was high for a quick win.
Before the first whistle, it was confirmed that Mariano Barbosa would be River’s starting goalkeeper. Once again, Coach Nestor Gorosito decided to rely in his instincts and give Mariano the responsibility. This action proved to be successful because Mariano played an excellent match. There was a scare during this match as Marcelo banged his head with another player and was hurt but his recovery has been great since then. In those instances where Velez did manage to almost score, Mariano became the hero just like Juan Pablo Carrizo was in the past. River’s defense still proved to be shaky but their solid line did what it could do best. I was very convinced with River’s midfield attackers during this match. They created a number of chances for Radamel Falcao and Diego Buonanotte to score but no score would be seen until the next half. Ultimately, the first half was done and the score remained 0-0.
The second half brought the return of last week’s hero, Marcel Gallardo. When Marcelo entered the match at the 20th minute, River reorganized itself to follow his lead. This happens a lot in football and more so in Argentine matches. A team’s “iconic” player has a lot of pull and coaches put a lot of emphasis on the player. Nonetheless, Marcelo proved to be back for more. I wish I could say that he scored in the minute but I would be lying to you. Cristian Villagra put River on the board of a beautiful floater over the goalkeeper, very similar to a “Gallardo Goal”. Unfortunately, the celebration would not last long as Velez tied the match four minutes later. With the match tied, the game slowly became to accept the result and both teams struggled to score again. The final whistle confirmed the result and River left Liniers with a very valuable point.
