Monday, March 14, 2016

River lose to Colón and Alan Ruíz' hattrick

After CA Lanús, Defensa y Justicia, San Lorenzo and Rosario Central, more teams have surprised with shock defeats. On Sunday, River Plate lost 4-1 to Colón.

Symbolic: Colón celebrate another goal while River players walk away disappointed. (Photo: TyC Sports)
Matchweek 7 of Argentina's Primera División continues to be a great one for all people loving upsets. Copa Libertadores champion River Plate had an extremely poor outing last night, losing 4-1 to Colón who had lost three straight previously. 

The heavy favourites took the lead after 22 minutes, when Emanuel Mammana joined in with an offensive run and excellent finish from a Casco cross. Throughout the first half, River, who rested a lot of regulars such as Alario and Mora, could compete with the hosts, but still conceded the equalizer 11 minutes later. Alan Ruíz fired home a fantastic shot into the bottom left corrner and did not leave Barovero the slightest chance. While he was not closed down vigorously enough by River's defense, it turned out to be just Ruíz' game. 

It took Colón 15 minutes of the second half to put this match to bed and keep all three points in Santa Fe. Mauricio Sperdutti made it 2-1 in the 54th, converting a low Figueroa cross from the left. Ignacio Fernández got himself sent off for the second yellow card seconds later, further weakening River's chances. It was an extremely eventful seven minutes, as Colón should add two more goals to their total. Alan Ruíz completed his hattrick with the help of Marcelo Barovero. First of all, he got behind the defense to score the 3-1, before Barovero waited too long with his clearance, hitting Ruíz' foot and seeing it get deflected into his own goal. It was a rare off night for him, and for River as a whole. They have still just won two games out of seven.


In the meantime, Colón celebrate the reemergence of Alan Ruíz. He had remained without a goal since his braces on matchweek 1 and 3, but answered with a hattrick now to help his team out of the latest rough run. While the scoreline might suggest otherwise, the game was far from being an offensive firework. River only managed four shots from their starting XI, six total, which is far from enough when attempting to take points from a motivated home team. 

Colón did their best and convinced defensively as well. For them, it was enough to simply not show Barovero-like errors and clear the balls when given the opportunity. 10 men River never threatened them in the second half and had trouble to outnumber Colón on the flanks with their disadvantage.

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