River Plate 3 – 1 Lanús
By: Christian | September 17th, 2007
River kept the pace in a weekend where they could not afford to lose any points, and came away with a 3-1 victory at home to Lanús, moving into 3rd place in the table with 15 points. Ariel Ortega and Alexis Sanchez both had stellar performances, and overall River played well and deserved the win. But it was Fernando Belluschi who was far and away the man of the match; finally, it appears that the “$40 million dollar man” has regained his form that made him such a revelation when he arrived last year. He scored two goals, the second a scorching golazo, leaving him with 6 on the year. Even the defense had a solid outing, though Eduardo Tuzzio had to be subbed in the 30th minute due to injury.
For about a ten minute span during the second half, River looked a bit sloppy and a Lanús comeback seemen imminent. Indeed, it was during this stretch that River reject José Sand scored, and Lanús nearly tied it a few minutes later with a goal that was disallowed.
In the end though, River came out on top, playing smart and attractive football to seal the victory. If there was one complaint it was River’s inability, still, to execute. The scoreline should have easily been 5-1; the squad has shown us that they can create opportunities to score, but it still seems to me that River should be putting the sword to opponents like these.
That was the good news. Unfortunately, Independiente beat Colón 3-0 and Boca routed Banfield 6-0 (aided by some lousy officiating), so River are 4 points back from the top spot. Luckily for us we still have to face both teams, but River cannot afford to drop any more points along the way. Next weekend it’s away to Tigre, who are only one point behind us in the standings.
Category: 07 Apertura
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Comments
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Wow.. if I could have smacked Jose Sand, I definitely would have. I can’t believe he disrespected the fans so much, especially after what we had to put up while he was part of the River squad. He was given more opportunities than ANY other player, yet was without a doubt one of the worse fowards I’ve seen with “la Banda” for years. As if that wasn’t enough, he returns with another jersey to the Monumental just to make rude gestures to the fans?! Seriously, if that guy doesn’t have mental problems, then I have no idea what is wrong with him.
- Gonzalo
Posted from
United States
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I know how much you hate Sand, but for me the worst was Lesser Higuain, kissing that Nueva Chicago badge. I hope he rots in whatever hack league he’s playing in.
Posted from
United States -
I too was somewhat offended by Federico Higuain’s actions, but Sand actually made me a lot more mad. Why? Simple:
1) Sand received infinite amount of opportunities during Astrada’s era (and did horrible in each and every game), while Higuain was NEVER given a chance. How many games did he play for us? One? Two?
2) Higuain actually had a reason to celebrate like that. Having been at Nueva Chicago for 2 years, he ended up falling in love with the club. Not only that, but the goal he scored could have saved them from relegation.I am not defending his actions, but it sounds a lot more reasonable than Sand’s celebration.
- Gonzalo
Posted from
United States -
But I expect Sand to do something stupid like that, because he’s Jose Sand, and this is as good as it will ever get for him. Higuain came up thru the system as did his father and brother, and he should have showed a little more respect. And not to defend Sand, but he probably thinks he got screwed over by River and wanted to rub it in our face; what did we ever do to Higuain?
Posted from
United States -
Well it is great to know River are unstoppable at home but they have to win away. Not winnning a single away match is nothing short of disasterous for a club like River who has ample talant available. Alexis Sanchez looks like stellar prospect and buy. Too bad he is on loan.
Posted from
United Kingdom
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