If River Plate are to regain their Copa Sudamericana crown before jetting off to Japan for the Club World Cup then they are going to have to do it the hard way after Huracán earned a well-deserved first leg victory in the Monumental on Thuesday night. Cristián Espinoza’s early goal had a huge element of luck to it but El Globo had the clearer chances to take an even greater advantage back to Parque Patricios in three weeks.
It is no secret that since lifting the Copa Libertadores, Marcelo Gallardo’s River Plate side have looked a shadow of the side that swept all competition before them. Los Millonarios rode their luck to sneak past Chapecoense in the quarter-finals but will need more than a little bit of good fortune if they are to turn the table on Huracán. Prior to the goal, the home side had already been let off when Ramón Ábila scuffed a shot wide from just yards out but it was soon forgotten when Milton Casco’s attempted clearance ballooned off talented youngster, Cristián Espinoza and over Marcelo Barovero into the net.
It wasn’t the prettiest of goals but over the course of the next 75 minutes it was difficult to argue that Huracán deserved any less. River failed to ever really get going and despite dominating possession, they rarely worked Marcos Díaz in the Huracán goal. It could have been worse had Ábila’s chip over a motionless Barovero in injury time not come back off the crossbar but it remained just one-nil.
Huracán’s survival in the Argentine Primera may not yet be mathematically certain but they are rapidly gaining a reputation as something of a cup side. El Globo look intent on ending their wait for a first international trophy and Gallardo and his side will know that overturning this result in the Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó will not be easy.
golazo argentino 