The first round of the Torneo Apertura is finally over, nearly three weeks after it begun. Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy hosted River Plate in the postponed match which had been scheduled for the first Sunday of the season, but put back due to River manager Daniel Passarella’s complaints about too much travel time following the Peace Cup in South Korea.
A second imperious performance in a week from Ariel Ortega, back in his home province, provided River with the impetus for a strong start, and they took the lead through Mauro Rosales, who took down a long free kick and stabbed it past José Valdiviezo to give River what they must have thought would be a deserved half-time lead. They were wrong, though, César Carranza drawing the hosts level in stoppage time at the end of the first period.
In the second half, Gimnasia were the stronger, and Fabio Pieters gave them the lead on the hour mark, sending a searing left-footed shot in off Juan Ojeda’s post from well outside the area. River rallied, and with Ortega continuing to pull the strings and left-back Pablo Ferrari looking comfortable in a new left midfield role, fashioned an equaliser of their own when Rolando Zárate, fresh off the bench having replaced Marco Ruben just minutes earlier, levelled things up with a towering header for his first goal for his new club. 2-2 was a just scoreline in an entertaining match.
Soccer Blogs
The Football Directory
