River won on penalties and reached the round of 16 Marcelo Gallardo’s team beat Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza 5-4 in San Luis, after a 1-1 draw during the 90-minute match, and qualified for the next phase of the Argentine Cup.

  • Share

The first clear opportunity of the match was for Gimnasia and Esgrima de Mendoza: after a moment of inattention at the back, Lucas Carrizo entered the area possessing the ball, he faced Germán Lux and fired a shot, which was stopped by the millionario’s goalkeeper’s stupendous response.

The match was very even, with River dominating ball possession, but without any concrete situations. The most threatening play was a shot from the left corner which, after a rebound, Julián Álvarez couldn’t comfortably kick on the second goalpost: his shot went above Tomás Marchiori, the goalkeeper, and a rival defender saved it on the goal line.

Towards the end, Nacho Fernández made a good long pass to Fabrizio Angileri. The defender barely got to the end line and directly made a center pass which was met by Rafael Borré’s head, but Marchiori controlled it without any problem.

At the beginning of the second half, Gimnasia was awarded a penalty after a foul by Angileri. Ignacio Morales did the kick and Lux saved it with his feet; the ball hit the crossbar and the rival forward couldn’t catch the rebound. The team from Mendoza had another opportunity by means of a deviated left-footed shot by Tadeo Marchiori, but River scored 1-0 thanks to a header by Exequiel Palacios, after deviating a shot by Benjamín Rollheiser.

De La Cruz tried from outside the area with a shot that was saved by the goalkeeper and then came the draw, when Renzo Vera headed a corner kick near the second goalpost. In the final minutes, Lucas Martínez Quarta fired a shot from the outside and the ball went very close by Marchiori’s right goalpost.

In the penalty shootout, River was 100% effective and was the one to qualify. The penalties were scored by Nacho Fernández, De La Cruz, Ferreira, Borré and Rollheiser, while Brian Andrada smashed his shot against the crossbar. In the round of 16, el Millionario will face Godoy Cruz.

Photo gallery

Related news

17/04/2024 River in Córdoba, great match and qualification
12/04/2024 River secures another win, topping the group
08/04/2024 River turns game around and celebrates at home
03/04/2024 River wins a resounding victory in Venezuela