Rosario Central defeated River and put Zone A in suspense

River Plate, leader of Zone A, lost this Saturday with Central Rosary 3 to 1 at the Gigante de Arroyito and left their qualification for the quarterfinals of the League Cupan objective that must be achieved on the last date of the regular phase.

Martín Demichelis’ team was winning from the 26th minute of the first half due to a subtle definition by Esequiel Barco before the departure of goalkeeper Jorge Broun, but “Canalla” reached the tie in the injury time of that stage through Luca Martínez Dupuy, replacement for the injured Ariel Cervera.

In the second half, with a brilliant performance and with numerical superiority due to the expulsion of Enzo Pérez (17m.), Central secured the victory with goals from Leandro González Pirez against (12m.) and the Colombian Jaminton Campaz (40m.), one of the great figures of the party.

Miguel Ángel Russo’s team, undefeated at home throughout the cycle, maintained its Copa Libertadores position in the annual table and entered the playoff zone for the League Cup with one game remaining.

River played better in the first half and seemed to recover from the previous defeat against Huracán. He controlled the ball with his five midfielders, took over the game and minimized a Central team that was dedicated to waiting in its field, with few opportunities to come out quickly in a counterattack with Campaz.

River’s overwhelming tactical and technical superiority bore fruit in its first arrival, at 15 minutes, when Simón located “Nacho” Fernández through the alley of eight, Kevin Ortiz wanted to cut but touched it towards Barco, who entered alone through the right of the area and finished with mastery before Broun left.

The match seemed to be served for River, who continued with their remarkable control of the ball against a Central team that had no foothold in the midfield.

However, at 46 minutes De la Cruz failed a backward pass, the entered Mexican forward Martínez Dupuy beat it on the right, opened Campaz, passed a center to Dupuy himself and a definition from the right, which unleashed the first explosion of the Gigante de Brook.

The complement repeated the movie of the first half, with a River that once again monopolized the ball, but lacked depth until at 11 minutes Central unbalanced the proceedings with a goal from a set piece: short corner from the left from Malcorra to Campaz, return along the back line, a strong center back and a failed rejection by González Pirez, who nailed it high, at the near post, in the second scream of the Giant.

The match once again tilted in favor of the local team in the 17th minute when Enzo Pérez, who was reprimanded, hit Ortiz in the local area, for which he received a second yellow card and was sent off.

River languished with the sterile transfer of the ball to the edge of the area, but without generating a single clear arrival until Central hit its second counterattack in the 38th minute and settled the dispute: a clean exit by Ortiz from the left of his field, authorization to Malcorra and precise assistance to Campaz from the same point and “Bicho” punctured it with his left foot, with three fingers, and scored a shot into the far post, in the great goal that unleashed the party in the Gigante, which for the first time chanted his nickname.

Thus, Central, which suffered and had a hard time against River’s overwhelming superiority in the first half, tied it in the end and won it fairly with a great reaction in the second half, in an epic victory with which it added its 28th game. undefeated at home and reached 61 points in the annual table, in the Libertadores zone. In addition, Central beat River again at the Gigante after 14 years, since 2009, when it had defeated it with goals from Guillermo Burdisso and Gonzalo Castillejos.

Now Central depends on itself because if it beats Arsenal on the last date it will confirm its qualification for the Copa Libertadores. All of this happened in Central’s last game at the current Gigante de Arroyito, which will begin to be remodeled early tomorrow.

Central won an epic game tonight and that’s why the “rogue” fans said goodbye to them with the classic “And you see, it’s Miguel’s team.”