The anger and desolation They arrived to settle in River. They are not momentary sensations, it is a state of mind that took root. It comes from afar and is especially accentuated in the Monumental, From a fortress it became a promenade and an amusement park for the current visitor, who does not need to be the most exalted to experience ecstasy. Just as on previous dates they celebrated Deportivo Riestra y Sarmiento, This Sunday it was La Plata Gymnastics, who had lost five of the last six games and arrived with an interim coach.
Every game is an ordeal for River. The fans are exhausting the catalog of satiety. The whistles started a while ago, in the defeat with Sarmiento the insults exploded and now the lapidary thundered “let them all go.”
The generous and unjustified nine minutes that Arasa added caused greater harm to River, because the penalty at 54 – Suso grabbed Martínez Quarta that the referee confirmed in the VAR – was another descent into hell with Borja’s execution that Insfrán cleared. The Colombian had just failed in the definition against Independiente Rivadavia and he no longer has any room for redemption before the fans.
Where Nacho Fernández, Lencina, Galoppo or Galarza passed by, now it’s the youth’s turn Subbiabrewho had not had minutes in the first division since the end of August. One more of the tweaks that Gallardo applies from one game to the next to try to put together a disfigured team. The left-handed Subiabre was positioned on the right, in a 4-3-3 formation, with Colidio on the left and Quintero as the most advanced vertex of the triangle in the middle completed by Portillo and Castaño, who still has not returned with an acceptable performance the already unjustified trust that the coach gives him.
Highlights of River 0 – Gimnasia 1
Con Juanfer Quintero Dispersed, without assuming the role of driver demanded by an orphaned team of players who know how to carry the weight of a game, River was disjointed and indolent in the first half. The proof of this football apathy is reflected in the fact that he was unable to create a clear goal-scoring situation. Just a shot from Subiabre, a cross and deflected header from Salas, a low cross from the kid Jaime that crossed the entire area without anyone attacking… An apathetic and inexpressive Riverwithout resources to destabilize a Gimnasia that felt comfortable and safe. Local possession was innocuous and inconsequential. With less control of the ball, Gimnasia was closer to the goal with a cross that Torres connected and went near a post.
In River it was difficult to find reasons to smile. Desolation in the form of crying caught Colidio when after 15 minutes he had to be replaced due to a muscle injury that will surely leave him out of the superclásico. Jaime entered, with Borja increasingly relegated. On the sides there was no news with the projections of Bustos or Acuña. The encouragement that the team had received during the first 45 minutes had a limit: the whistles, which during the formation announcement were loudly heard by Castaño, Borja, Paulo Díaz and Galarza, now came down to repudiate the performance of the entire team.
The ghostly image River went for a walk again at the beginning of the second half, with one of those penalties that portray teams without head or tail: in an action that was born in a slip by Subiabre, it continued with Portillo’s push to Merlini. Arasa, who had not called the foul, called it at the request of the VAR after being called by Trucco. “Chelo” converted the penalty with Armani diving to the opposite side: River is going against everything.
What was bad, got worse. Confusion also invaded Gallardo, with three changes and the little he took care of the youthful Jaime, replaced when he had been Colidio’s replacement. Borja, Meza and Lencina entered. At that point, the insults (“players, the c…) They accentuated the mental and emotional block of a team that moved carrying a lead backpack.
Without play inside, River appealed to the centers. Many announced and in bulk, some with better direction for headers from Salas, Portillo and Meza. Gimnasia was not in too much trouble; It was enough for him to tighten lines in his field and the firmness to win most of the individual duels.
Nacho Fernández was the last card that Gallardo played, when River was blind and with confidence on the ground. The unexpected penalty, instead of putting a pause on the discomfort, increased it. River will go to Bombonera next Sunday in pieces and putting qualification for the next Copa Libertadores at serious risk. Minutes before the game, outgoing president Jorge Brito gathered the journalists to say goodbye and closed the speech with a wish: “And may we win!” His River doesn’t understand that.
