Apertura 2008: Banfield 2 – 1 River Plate

By: Christian | August 26th, 2008

Banfield 2 - River Plate 1

The commentators on TYC Sports summed it up neatly. River va sufrir esta campaña – River will suffer this campaign. Based solely on the performance this past Sunday, when River were simply outplayed by a very disciplined and effective Banfield side in a 2-1 loss, it’s going to be a long season for los millonarios. With the defeat, their first in 9 league games, River continue their struggles during this Apertura 2008 campaign, amassing only 4 points from three games and carrying a mountain of uncertainty moving forward.

As noted in last week’s win against Rosario Central, River quite honestly do not look like a team that will threaten for any titles this year. Diego Simeone still dealing with the loss of Juan Pablo Carrizo and Ariel Ortega, two of our strongest players from last season, has yet to find the right squad, and so far, his reinforcements have disappointed. Santiago Salcedo seems close to finding his form, but he continues to fail putting away the chances he has, while Diego Barrado and Robert Flores are practically MIA. Even Radamel Falcao, despite scoring River’s lone goal in the last seconds of the match, looked poor after his return from injury.

Oddly enough, the team’s performance has been more average than downright terrible, something we’ve seen several times the past few seasons. Looking ahead, River will now face San Lorenzo at home this Sunday that is important not only for the points at stake against one of the Big 5, but also provides a chance to avenge the still embarrassing Copa Libertadores defeat from last season. Diego Buonanotte, fresh from winning his gold medal with the National team at the Olympics, should figure in the match. Let’s hope his return can spark some imagination in this as of yet lifeless team.

2008 Apertura Fixture 3
Banfield 2 – 1 River Plate

Scoring Summary:
Santiago Raymonda (B), 7th
36m Nicolás Bertolo (B), 36th
Radamel Falcao García (RP), 93rd

River Plate:
Juan Marcelo Ojeda
Eduardo Tuzzio, Leonardo Ponzio, Cristian Villagra
Paulo Ferrari, Diego Barrado, Oscar Ahumada, Matías Abelairas
Mauro Rosales, Santiago Salcedo, Radamel Falcao García.

Substitutions:
Rodrigo Archubi for Barrado, 46th
Gustavo Bou for Villagra, 59th
Robert Flores for Rosales, 67th

Highlights