Facing a tough team, like Velez Sarsfield, in River’s poor campaign was not the most welcome news after the election. River visited the Liniers neighborhood of Buenos Aires in search of much-need three points. Leonardo Astrada’s group gave a pitiful performance against the defending champions, and their superiority finally put River into reality. With a 3-1 win over the Millonarios, Velez proved that winning games is not difficult as long as goals are scored. Sounds ironic, huh?
Ariel Ortega and Matias Almeyda started the match but their visible injuries prevented them from playing their best. River struggled through each half, trying to recover rebounds and turnovers, but miserably failing. I have noticed that River is a different team every week. One week they’re good in midfield while in another week, they cannot maintain control. It is very disappointing for a club that should be fighting on top of the tournament, and not in a pathetic 15th place. River was dealt its first goal in the 31st minute by Maxi Moralez, while Mauro Diaz tied the match for River in the second half; precisely in the 31st minute.
River was happy with the tie and tried to keep this result until the end, but Velez took advantage of River’s position and took the lead at the 39th minute. At this point, it was all over for River. A loss was imminent but not without another goal. In the 46th minute of the second half, former River player, Roly Zarate, sealed the nails on the coffin for River. A disgraceful 3-1 loss, a day after great news was sitting back home. Only two more games are left in this tournament and we can all agree that we cannot wait until it’s over.
