In last night’s second matchup, the defending champions of every competition, River Plate, entered the Copa Sudamericana quarterfinals with a never endangered 3-1 home victory over Chapecoense. Man of the match was the brilliant Uruguayan midfielder Carlos Sánchez, who scored twice.
Carlos Sánchez celebrates Leonardo Pisculichis (right) freekick beauty (photo: CONMEBOL).
Right from the get go, River suddenly turned on their form again, that got lost since weeks in the Argentinian league, where they lost game after game. It always amazes me when a team can focus completely on one competition and put all their energy into it.
It took the home team 20 minutes, until they made their dominance count for the first time. A beautiful goal from Carlos Sánchez, who slotted home a low shot into the far corner from the edge of the area, assisted just as nicely by fullback Milton Casco, that showed tremendous overview while storming down the left flank.
River did not sit back and was determined to not let the guests come into this game and it worked well until the 37th minute. Then the Brazilians scored in a pretty simple way. Two times, the ball was deflected further forward, until it reached Maranhao. Chapecoenses left winger did not ask twice and shot the ball under Barovero and into the back of the net. River’s defender Jonatan Maidana was a little slow to react on that scene and let the opposing player walk right in.
It went to halftime tied 1-1 and the Argentinians knew that something had to happen offensively to not travel to Brazil with a disadvantage. They delivered yet again with a heavily dominated second half.
Coach Marcelo Gallardo made a positive offensive-minded substitution by bringing on Tabare Viudez for midfielder Lucho Gonzalez. Two minutes after, River took the lead back. No, it was not Viudez, but instead Leonardo Pisculichi stepped up with a direct freekick hammered into the top left corner: 2-1!
4 minutes from the end, they collected the highly earned third goal. After a tireless battle for the ball inside the area, Driussi crossed it low into the middle, where Carlos Sánchez only had to tap it in for his second goal of the night.
El Monumental was electric all night, as River Plate appear to be on the way to yet another international semifinal appearance, if they can hold on to their two goal lead when visiting Chapecoense in exactly a week.
Here are the highlights for you:
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