Clausura 2008: Rosario Central 2 - 1 River Plate

By: Christian | April 20th, 2008

Rosario Central 2-1 River Plate

I warned this past week that River could be due for a big surprise in the league, and sure enough, los millonarios suffered their first defeat of the season, losing 2-1 at the hands of Rosario Central in a pulsating match.

Much like last season’s fixture in the Apertura, this meeting against Central was one of the most exciting games of the year, and once again River came up short. Despite a decent performance from Diego Simeone’s squad, Central, despite having another season near the bottom of the table, left it all out on the pitch.

River would strike the first blow on an excellent strike from Diego Buonanotte in the 19th minute, which silenced, at least temporarily, the ecstatic home crowd. But ten minutes later, Central were even after a shot from Emilio Zelaya went just past Juan Pablo Carrizo. The goal, only the third conceded by River all season, ended a shutout streak of nearly 600 minutes. And when Martín Arzuaga put the home team up in the 43rd, River found themselves behind for the first time in the entire Clausura.

The second half was one of the most tense seen yet, with River struggling to push forward against a Central team who were clearly gassed, but doing everything to deny la banda. But the tide changed when Rosario’s Leonardo Borzani received a red card in the 74th minute, and River began to throw everything towards the goal in search of the equalizer. In the end, Central were just good enough to deny River the draw, and were the unlikely squad to hand us our first defeat in the league.

While I’m disappointed with the result, there is still a long way to go, and we still maintain our lead atop the table, albeit even with Estudiantes on points. And though the result was not the same as our brilliant 5-0 win in the Copa, I still saw that same drive and determination from the team that has been missing in past weeks. They pushed forward, tried to threaten, and looked like a team that was trying to maintain their hold on the Clausura. And perhaps there is something good to be taken from this afternoon; with the race now tighter, River will need to focus on taking maximum points from here until the end of June.

NOTES: Ariel Ortega made his return to the team, coming in as a substitute in the 62nd minute. Though he did not look completely match fit, he improved as the match went on, and came desperately close to equalizing. … Argentinos may be our next opponent, but everyone is looking ahead to two weeks from now for the Superclásico. Stay tuned for more as we get closer.

River Plate:
Juan Pablo Carrizo
Paulo Ferrari (Ariel Ortega, 62nd), Gustavo Cabral, Eduardo Tuzzio, Cristian Villagra
Leonardo Ponzio, Matias Abelairas (Rodrigo Archubi, 66th)
Augusto Fernández (Mauro Rosales, 71st), Radamel Falcao, Diego Buonanotte
Sebastián Abreu