Apertura 2008: River Plate 2 – 0 Rosario Central

By: Christian | August 18th, 2008

River Plate 2 - 0 Rosario Central

River left it late at the Monumental yesterday, scoring two goals with less than ten minutes left to defeat Rosario Central 2-0 in their 2008 Apertura home debut. And while the last minute heroics left the fans happy with the win, it could not hide the still many answered questions as los millonarios move forward in the campaign.

Still missingDiego Buonanotte, and with Radamel Falcao out injured, Diego Simeone once again was forced to address the forward situation, and his response would be the trio of Mauro Rosales, Santiago Salcedo (in his River debut), and Gustavo Bou, playing up top in a 3-4-3 formation. But after a tepid and often boring first half, with less than handful of opportunities created and one absolute sitter missed when Salcedo headed the ball over the cross bar despite being unmarked, the formation was clearly not working and the squad was greeted with chants of, “Orteeeega” as they left the field at halftime to a 0-0 score.

Andrés Ríos would come on in the second half to replace a woeful Bou, but the play dragged on, and it appeared that River would once again salvage only a point. But in the 82nd minute, Tuzzio headed in a cross off a corner kick that the Rosario keeper could not prevent from crossing the line, and River had their first lead of the 08 season. Minutes later Ríos would put the game out of reach with a beautiful strike from distance, and the home crowd breathed a sigh of relief as their champions recorded their first victory of the season.

But the win could not mask the serious problems that River still have, with the attack being the most pressing issue. Salcedo may be forgiven for his weak performance in his first game wearing the shirt, but Bou looked slow and sometimes just plain lost. And while Rosales may be getting some good press for his performance yesterday, I have yet to see anything from him that tells me he is nothing other than a second half sub, and nowhere near being a River starter.

But of course it was the absence of leadership, of a creative force on the field, that River lacked. Yes, Ponzio as libero looked good, and Tuzzio has adapted well in his role as captain, but it’s in pushing forward that River seem to have little ideas. If the squad is biding its time until Buonanotte and Falcao return, they will struggle just a mightily as they did yesterday, but perhaps not with the same results.

Next up, River travel south to face Banfield.

2008 Apertura Fixture 2
River Plate 2 – 0 Rosario Central

Scoring Summary:
Eduardo Tuzzio, 82nd
Andrés Ríos, 90th

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

Substitutions:
Andrés Ríos for Bou, 46th
Robert Flores for Barrado, 58th
Martín Galmarini for Rosales, 91st

Highlights