River leads in the Clausura

Being on top of the tournament has never felt so good in such a long time. After months of struggling underneath the leaders of the past and current tournament, River has made it to the top of the board thanks to a struggling win against Lanus. Although River’s play continues to lack in crucial places, the team seems to be responding well with each other and Diego Simeone has been able to find a structure to keep his team in line.

The first half of the match was slow paced and left the fans yawning at some points. River seemed to be the dominant team in this half and had a few goo chances to score but Lanus kept counter attacking with some good plays. As it has been known since the start of the tournament, River’s defense continues to lack solidarity. Small mistakes always lead up to goal or close to a goal. In my opinion, Cabral has not been able to convince me that he is fit for the club. He creates a lot of doubtful movements that leave the rest of the defense and JP Carrizo out of step. Speaking of Carrizo, he played an excellent match but he did something that made me nervous. He tends to “tease” the opponent players by holding on to the ball as they rush him and then he gracefully tricks them by swiping to the side and passing the ball to a defender. Sounds fascinating but he almost loss the ball this time and Lanus could have scored. Sometimes it’s best to play it safe JP.

The second half brought a determined Buonanotte to the field. The “Enano” (dwarf), took control of the midfield and created excellent plays in the field. In fact, he is the one who gave River the only goal of the match and the win. This young player continues to demonstrate that age has no factor in the sport and that being a physically small player is a huge benefit in the field. Towards the end of the match, Lanus’s Jose Sand, who happens to be an Ex-River player, was awarded a penalty shot over a doubtful foul. Sand, who is famous for screaming a goal against River last year and kissing Lanus’s badge, looked really nervous facing River’s Carrizo and the River crowd. Fortunately, his nerves took the best of him and he failed the shot as Carrizo gracefully blocked the kick. Before I finish, I want to quickly touch on Sebastian Abreu. He entered in the second half and had really clear shots to score, with one opportunity being one-to-one with the goalie. Of course, he stumbled and fell and this made me realize that he has a lot of practice to do.