Tigre 4 - 1 River Plate

By: Christian | September 23rd, 2007

Just when you thought this season’s River Plate had found every way to disappoint, it turns out they still have ways to surprise us. La Banda’s title hopes took a huge blow today with a shocking 4-1 loss to newly promoted Tigre, a game which saw River reduced to 9 men after both Ariel Ortega and René Lima were sent off in the second half. To add insult to injury, literally, Alexis Sánchez had to be taken out early in the first half after hurting his ankle, and will be out for up to 3 months.

Things started out badly when Tigre struck early in the 9th minute on a goal by Román Martínez thanks to, yet again, another weak performance by our back line. River showed little offensive threat during the first 45 minutes, with neither Radamel Falcao or Marco Rubén involved much. In the second half River began to show signs of life, with Ortega, easily River’s best on the day, leading the way, and a draw looking imminent. But a controversial goal in the 59th minute by Tigre’s Matías Giménez killed any momentum. Replays showed the player clearly used his hand, but regardless, keeper Juan Pablo Carrizo played the ball horribly to allow the chance in the first place, a shocking miscue from the usually reliable star. Néstor Ayala’s golazo two minutes later though dashed any hopes of a comeback. Rubén was able to find the back of the net off an assist by Ortega in the 66th minute, but it was too little too late; a final goal by Ayala again in the 84th minute was merely one more nail in the coffin. All in all, River were simply outplayed on the day, and Tigre deserved the win to continue their remarkable run in their return to the Primera.

As awful as the result was, was it any surprise that things were going to come to this? Today’s loss was simply the summation of everything wrong we’ve seen from River this year: sloppy defense, little imagination in attack, and a total lack of communication. But the real issue this season has simply been inconsistency. And with injuries piling up, a change is needed at the Monumental. Remember, it was a loss to Banfield in August of 2005 by the exact same score that saw former coach Leonardo Astrada resign. Will Daniel Passarella now do the same? Though he had promised to step out if River did not win a title by December, after today’s embarrassment, a midweek loss in the Copa Sudamericana, uncertainties about the remainder of the season, and the anger and frustration of fans (and one would imagine the players), you have to imagine that El Kaiser’s reign has to end now. With River’s season nearly dead, their chances of advancing in the Copa Sudamericana slim, and the season’s most important game against Boca Juniors in the Superclásico just 3 weeks away, los millonarios need a spark to salvage something from this season that began with such high promise that has yet to be fulfilled.

Highlights