Clausura 2009: San Lorenzo 5 – 1 River Plate

By: Christian | March 3rd, 2009

River Plate suffered a humiliating defeat this past Sunday against rivals San Lorenzo in a 5-1 rout, their worst result against el ciclon in over 40 years. The luck that had helpedlos millonarios through 3 consecutive wins was completely absent at the Nuevo Gasómetro, replaced instead by a farcical performance by players who disgraced the shirt and their fans.

It started off on the worst possible note, with River conceding a goal in the 27th second! After 5 minutes they were losing 2-0, and by the look of it, done. By the end of the first half, River were down 4-1, with only Diego Buonanotte’s 24th minute goal to save face.

Not even the inclusion of Cristian Fabbiani or the return of Marcelo Gallardo proved useful in the second half. As the game mercilessly dragged on, the only question was just how bad they would lose. In the end, the score read 5-1, and River were at the wrong end of a humiliating loss.

It would be easy for me to attack our porous defense and lack of creativity in the midfield. Instead, let me try this approach: Let’s be thankful this defeat came early in the season. After three questionable wins in a row, the last thing River needed was to feel comfortable in their mediocrity, to assume that their average play that saw them defeat Nacional in the Copa or Banfield in the league would be enough to get them back in contention for the title. If Gorosito is smart, and the jury is still out on that one, he’ll use this embarrassing defeat to analyze what isn’t worked so far, who needs to go (Rosales!!), and to motivate his players with a simple message: This is River, and 5-1 pastings like what we saw this past Sunday will not stand.

Pipo is already at work, replacing Juan Ojeda with backup keeper Mariano Barbosa for this Thursday’s Copa Libertadores match.

2009 Clausura Fixture 4
San Lorenzo 5 – 1 River Plate

Scoring Summary:
Jonathan Santana (SL), 27th second
Hernán Adrián González (SL), 5th
Jonathan Bottinelli (SL), 17th
Diego Buonanotte (RP), 24th
Gonzalo Bergessio (SL), 45th
Néstor Andrés Silvera (SL), 57th

River Plate:
Juan Marcelo Ojeda
Paulo Ferrari, Gustavo Cabral, Nicolás Sánchez, Cristian Villagra
Augusto Fernández, Oscar Ahumada, Matías Abelairas
Diego Buonanotte
Mauro Rosales, Radamel Falcao García

Substitutions:
Rodrigo Archubi for Abelairas, 54th
Cristian Fabbiani for Rosales, 54th
Marcelo Gallardo for Buonanotte, 64th

Highlights