The tranquility that River had after having reached the qualification in the League Cup the previous week, allowed him to present an alternative team to face Platense on the last date of zone A.
The coach Marcelo Gallardo decided to rest some players, and use others who had less participation. and that lack of continuity was noted in some names in particular.
The young goalkeeper Centurión showed many doubts when he had to go get the ball after a pass from a teammate, and that caused Platense will take advantage and achieve equality through Mansilla.
River had taken the lead three minutes earlier by Intermission of Paradela, who defined with a great shot from the right to place the ball near the angle. The joy was short-lived for the locals, who quickly suffered the goal of the visitors.
The commitment for the quarterfinals will be next Wednesday against Tigre, and for that reason they presented a squad with many variants. The level of some players does not finish conforming when they have the opportunity to play, and one of the emblematic cases is González Pírez.
The defender was marked by the error in the Superclásico against Boca, and has not finished consolidating himself among the starters. In Platense’s goal, the fault was shared with Centurión, and since neither of them went in search of the ball, Tijanovich took advantage and took it to enable Mansilla, who defined with an empty bow.
In case of Romero also has to do with a lack of confidence, and to make matters worse when he can play he can’t convert like when he made his appearance in the club, which had earned a place from the definitions.
The level in general suffers when the protagonists are others. And the aggressiveness with which River used to present himself quickly disappears.
Platense realized this shortcoming of the local team and was encouraged to attack whenever he could. With limited weapons, Vicente López’s team demanded some approaches to Centurión.
When everything indicated that it would end equalized, the referee charged a penalty in favor of River with an action that left many doubts, and Alvarez was in charge of executing it and making a difference. The last champion was now three steps away from achieving a new title.