Boca Juniors are top of the Argentine Primera and, perhaps more importantly, struck the first blow against River Plate in a series of three Superclásico matches in 11 days. In Sunday’s opener -- a league match -- Boca came away with a 2-0 win, sending them three points clear of River. Next up is the Copa Libertadores.
Boca Juniors vs. River Plate: Final score 2-0, Superclásico round 1 goes to Boca
They can get redemption in Copa Libertadores, but River Plate look a slight class below Boca Juniors at the moment.
In this match -- just like the rest of the season up to this point -- Boca were dangerous going forward and committed to attacking, a welcome change from the negative style they played from the point of Juan Roman Riquelme’s significant physical decline up until this spring. Substitutes scored both of Boca’s goals, and their three subs were arguably their three most important players on the night.
Boca had all of the big chances in the opening minutes. Federico Carrizo forced Marcelo Barovero into a great save in the eighth minute, and Nicolas Lodeiro’s follow-up attempt was blocked. Two minutes after that, Pablo Dani Osvaldo was unlucky to strike the post from just inside the box.
Andres Chavez had the best chance of the half in the 30th minute, but couldn’t convert. Carrizo played a great cross that Marcelo Meli dummied to Chavez, but he missed terribly when presented with an uncontested shot from the penalty spot. River’s best opportunity to score came three minutes after that when Teofilo Gutierrez set up Carlos Sanchez for a shot, but he hit the crossbar.
While they hardly created anything in the first half, River were the better side from the start of the second half until around the hour mark. Rodrigo Mora forced Augustin Orion to make a nice save in the 56th minute, and even challenged him when he tried to score direct from a corner five minutes later. But Boca eventually settled in. They started to control the midfield after bringing on Fernando Gago as a substitute, and the two sides went 20-plus minutes without creating much at all.
Boca’s eventual breakthrough came in the 84th minute, with Cristian Pavon their hero. A cross that came in from the left dinged around the box, with Boca having chances to shoot and River to clear, but no one could make the ball do what they want. Lodeiro eventually touched it wide to Pavon, who finished from a narrow angle.
Pablo Perez sealed the result for Boca three minutes later. Perez played a backheel for Lodeiro, whose shot was saved by Barovero, but Perez followed the ball and scored the rebound.
The first leg of Boca and River’s Copa Libertadores tie is on Thursday at El Monumental. In the last match between the two at River’s ground, Leonardo Pisculichi scored to give River a 1-0 win on the night and on aggregate in the Copa Sudamericana series between the two. River have struggled so far in the competition, which is why they got matched up against Boca -- they’re the No. 16 seed and Boca is seeded No. 1. The return leg is the following Thursday at La Bombonera.
Boca Juniors: Orion, Monzon, Diaz, Burdisso, Peruzzi, Cubas, Meli (Perez 80’), Lodeiro, Chavez (Gago 62’), Osvaldo, Carrizo (Pavon 68’)
Goals: Pavon (84’), Perez (87’)
River Plate: Barovero, Mammana (Mayada 87’), Maidana, Pezzella, Vangioni, Kranevitter, Sanchez, Driussi (Martinez 71’), Rojas, Mora, Gutierrez (Cavenaghi 71’)
Goals: None
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