The Argentine River Plate put its permanence in the Copa Libertadores 2023 at risk by drawing 1-1 with the Peruvian Sporting Cristal this Thursday in Lima, in a match of the fourth date of Group D.
Cristal took the lead with a goal from their captain Yoshimar Yotún in the 63rd minute, taking advantage of a mistake by goalkeeper Franco Armani when he tried to reject a ball from his goal.
River’s equalizer was scored by Rodrigo Aliendro at minute 84. Colombian Miguel Borja missed a penalty for El Millonario at minute 75.
Fluminense, who lost 1-0 to The Strongest in La Paz, led the draw with 9 points. The Bolivian tiger is second with 6, while Cristal and River with 4 units are well behind in third and fourth positions.
On the fifth date, Cristal will visit The Strongest in La Paz and River will receive Fluminense in Buenos Aires, in matches scheduled for June 7.
With goal anxiety
River began the match with a good collective game that quickly forced Cristal to take defensive measures.
The match was decisive for River and the Peruvians because they urgently needed to add to climb the table for the ‘Flu’.
With captain Enzo Pérez as the team’s handle, River put intense pressure on Cristal, who could barely defend his goal to avoid an early fall.
After the faltering first minutes, Cristal began to generate more aggressive football with quick counterattacks led by their captain Yoshimar Yotún. At 8, the Brazilian striker Brenner Marlos took a header that was saved by Franco Armani.
River with good triangulations easily reached the goal of Renato Solís, but in their intentions to open the scoring their players failed in the definition with a set piece and in front of the goal.
At 38, Lucas Beltrán took a right-footed shot from outside the area that was saved by Solís.
The millionaires, four times champions of the Libertadores, dominated the first half with superiority, but failed to score. At 44, Esequiel Barco missed the clearest scoring opportunity of that period after taking a strong right-footed shot that hit the crossbar.
danger classification
In the supplement, River, directed by Martín Demichelis, did not change its formula and for the moment had Cristal on the ropes, but the failures in definition and the performance of goalkeeper Solís deprived the millionaires of celebrating early.
At 57, Demichellis made two changes, including the entry of Miguel Borja to give his team more offensive weight.
But it was Cristal who found the goal, a gift from Armani at minute 63 when he tried to play from his goal, leaving Yotún’s rejection in humanity, who only had to push for 1-0.
But River did not lower its arms and went with all its offensive power to look for the tie.
And he had it at 73, when the Chilean referee Cristian Garay sanctioned a Rafael Lutiger penalty on Nacho Fernández, and that was validated at the request of the VAR. Lutiger was sent off after the second yellow decision.
Two minutes later the charge was taken by Borja, but Solís saved the shot by diving to the right.
In the last minutes, River put more pressure on the local defense and took advantage of the numerical superiority at 84 when Aliendro scored the equalizer with a dry shot in the center of the area.