With a hat-trick from Miguel Borja, River Plate beat Tigre 3-1 at the Monumental and was one point behind the leaders in the League Tournament, played four days.
The Millionaire alternated good and bad at home, where he once again seems to be unbeatable (30 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses in the Martín Demichelis era), and ended up being imposed by its hierarchy and, particularly, by its forward, who in a state of grace celebrated in triplicate in a competition in which he had not yet converted. From now on, he regained the top of the Annual Table.
Despite the fact that in the first seconds of the match they were on the verge of taking the lead on the scoreboard and that they quickly gained the advantage, at 13 minutes, through a Borja prison after a clear handball by Facundo Ferreyra in the area, Demichelis’ team was not the overwhelming River during the initial 45 minutes.
In fact, equality, also from the 12 steps, of Gonzalo Maroni (45+3′) after a foul by Franco Armani on Blas Armoa, paying the price for an error by Paulo Díaz at the start, it was an act of justice in Núñez.
Because Sebastián Domínguez’s team did not shrink at the Monumental against a River that is usually a machine at home. In fact, he flirted with the goal before, but Armoa – deflected – and Ferreyra – stick – failed in the definition.
And although those on the red band, who lost Matías Kranevitter due to injury, also seemed to be within striking distance of 2-0, even without the fluidity or precision of other games, the Matador stayed in the game and struck at a key moment, capitalizing on defensive errors and the spaces left by the rival.
Of course, Tigre’s good game lasted a while. Because in addition, with the entry of Esequiel Barco, Demichelis’s pupils came out with another conviction and Hummingbird, the great figure of the team, settled the match. First he failed, after a back pass from Milton Casco, but in the second, assisted by Agustín Sant’Anna, the other winger, he did not forgive goalkeeper Felipe Zenobio.
And in a burst, at 58′, Borja completed his hat-trick and tied Radamel Falcao García as the third top Colombian scorer in the club’s history. The third was, like the first, a penalty, committed by Tomás Fernández to Pablo Solari, who made a good personal move and could not finish due to an infraction. Shortly after, Solari assisted Borja again, but in this one the scorer missed the final touch.
In the last half hour, River suffered another bad news: Sant’Anna, in good shape, earning the position at right back, felt muscle discomfort and was replaced, expanding the black list of the day, which includes Kranevitter and Facundo Colidio, who left the field at halftime with pain in his arm from a fall.
In this context, Demichelis took the opportunity to give minutes to Franco Mastantuono and Nacho Fernández, who returned from an injury (a slight vertebral avulsion). And River, unlike the first part of the match, allowed itself to play a little more, with associations and many approaches to the rival goal, and came close to winning on several occasions.
The result did not change and River reached 9 points – one less than the leaders – in 4 games, leaving behind the bitter defeat on the Argentinos Juniors court and chaining its second success of the week, after the victory vs. Deportivo Táchira that allowed them to be the best first in the CONMEBOL Libertadores.
Before the break for the Copa América, River will visit Deportivo Riestra, starting at 3:30 p.m. next Thursday, without their selected players (Franco Armani, Paulo Díaz, Miguel Borja and Nicolás Fonseca), and attentive to the recovery of their injuries.
Tigre, for its part, will host Belgrano at 7:00 p.m. on the same day, which will close a terrible semester for the club. It is bottom of the Annual Table, with 6 units in 18 dates (he barely has one point in the championship), and he still hasn’t won thanks to Seba Domínguez.
