River Plate stayed tonight with him Champions Trophy, by beating Colon of Santa Fe by 4 to 0 in a game played at the Sole Mother of Cities stadium Santiago del Estero. The match pitted the winner of the recent Professional Football League tournament (River) against the winner of the last League Cup (Colón). River is, therefore, champion of champions.
So much Marcelo gallardo, which surprised with the inclusion as starter of José Paradela instead of Benjamin Rollheiser, as Eduardo Domínguez bet to build superiority from the midfield, which they ended up overpopulating: five midfielders and just one man well on the edge per side.
Within this framework, and except for some individual attempt by Julián Álvarez, Colón achieved his first objective: to prevent the collective functioning of River, to interrupt its mobility and creative circuit. And, from there, look for the Armani bow with good arguments. River’s impotence for not being able to impose his game led to two quick warnings, those of Zuculini and Martínez. The Santa Fe team, at that point and in addition to its tactical application, once again exhibited Facundo Farías’ talent for imbalance.
The “Sabalero”, thus, approached twice, both from the right, one with Meza and the other with Farías himself. Once Martínez and the other Paulo Díaz crossed to save their bow. But after the first half hour, Gallardo’s team began to find some spaces. And he took advantage of them.
Simón, blurred until there, received at 41m from Paulo Díaz, went to the right and sent an exact center for the entry of Julián Álvarez, always the most active and dangerous, who stretched to define before a certain statism of Burián and put the 1 to 0. Undeserved, but a symbol of River’s ability to generate even without dominating and of the striker to score.
Until then, the “Doll” team had only approached with a deflected header, after a corner, from Zuculini. But before the break River had a burst of good football and almost got more advantage with another beautiful center from Simón that Paolo Goltz, in clearance, almost turned into a goal against.
The second half started the other way around than the first: River was the best stopped and he arrived twice with chances to score in the initial five minutes, both with Simón, who finished poorly. And although Colón tried a reaction to balance, Gallardo’s team finished him off at 13m: the “sabalera” defense went wrong, José Paradela (his level improved a lot compared to his previous performances) went into the area on the right, sent the center and again Julián Álvarez beat Burián in two halves for 2-0.
Álvarez, incidentally, surpassed Gonzalo “Pity” Martínez (35) and, with 36, is River’s fourth top scorer in the “Gallardo era”, behind Rafael Borré, Lucas Alario and Ignacio Scocco. Columbus no longer had ideas or legs to reverse history. And in order for River’s party to be complete, Gallardo brought in the historic captain Leonardo Ponzio to say goodbye on the field and lead his last Olympic round; Rollheiser expanded and Carrascal sentenced the story, and the consecration.
The match data
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