River beat Carabobo with just enough and achieved its first victory in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana
River beat him 1 to 0 Carabobo in the Monumental Stadium and, in the preview of the Superclassic of Argentine soccer, added his first victory in the CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2026.
El Millonario, who extended his undefeated record since the arrival of Eduardo Coudetdid not play well, but ended up prevailing due to his hierarchy and added three thanks to the goal of Sebastian Driussi in the complement.
The game looked awry from the start for River, who rotated almost the entire XI a few days before the Superclásico and At no time did he find the fluidity of the game that Coudet is looking for. If the coach’s idea was to play as a visitor as he had done at home, particularly in the win against Belgrano, this Wednesday it was not supported by the team’s level.
From the first minute, the Venezuelan team, which had just hit Red Bull Bragantino and opted for a defensive line of five players, proposed high and suffocating pressure.
The initial response of the Millionaire, who tried to put together passes from possession of the ball, was clear: imprecision. In the first minutes of the match, without the help of a playing field that is in very bad conditionfull of sand, the place showed many difficulties in finding a partner.
Thus, River, which in its debut had tied with Blooming in Bolivia, lost the ball at the start and, although it did not suffer -Beltrán had no task throughout the match-, it allowed Carabobo to get closer with free kicks meters from the area.
Monopolizing the ball did not allow Coudet’s team to get close to Bruera. On the contrary: that sterile tenure allowed the visiting team to play comfortably, far from their goal, and hold out for the tie without any problems.
The clearest of the initial stage was Juanfer Quintero, disconnected from the game circuit, after a subtlety by Freitas to take the ball and find Carabobo badly stopped, for the first time in the night.
Quintero, who had previously tried from afar, could not beat the goalkeeper, who guessed his intention and responded. Juan Cruz Meza, with a deflected shot, was the other one who tried without success.
In a first time to be forgotten, River also lost Fausto Vera due to injuryone of the few starters that Chacho lined up (Beltrán, the goalkeeper, and Subiabre, who is not a permanent fixture, the others), days before the match with Boca. Aníbal Moreno, his usual midfield partner, replaced him in the 18th minute.
At the end of the 45 minutes, the response from the public present, who had dedicated themselves to asking for the Superclásico since the previous one, was unprecedented in Coudet’s short cycle: whistles in unisonthe same ones that had appeared for the controversial cooling break of CONMEBOL and in the face of the mistakes of Kevin Castaño who evidently plays with extra pressure.
Coudet changed and River too
Looking ahead to the complement, Chacho sent two regular starters to the field, Driussi and Galván, and the team He came out to play with a different attitudealso renewing the energies of the Monumental.
However, new bad news continued to complicate what had been a very complex night: Quintero left with discomfort and he gave way to Kendry Páez at 50′.
With the pressure that the clock was beginning to tick and players with more dynamics, the Millonario began to play closer to Bruera and, despite maintaining difficulties in breaking the rival defensive siege, the 66 minutes The long-awaited and necessary 1 to 0 arrived, based on the modifications.
Carabobo could not finish an attack in the rival field and River took advantage of the open field to run: Páez drove and, when he was about to reach the area, Driussi got in the way and took a great shot that opened the scoring..
The ‘9’, thus, once again showed his great present: He scored in five of the seven games of the Coudet erawhich has him as the top gunner.
As is usual in this type of match, the goal broke the visiting strategy, which began to leave more space and allowed the local team to play more comfortably. Páez, very active on the right, defined Bruera’s body, while Galván hit the crossbar squarely.
Carabobo practically did not attack in the final minutes, as well as in the rest of the game, and only worried River due to a defensive disconnection after a cross, so the victory was not in danger.
In the stands, the slogan from the previous one was replicated in the during and in the post: Sunday, whatever the cost…
Waiting for the match between Red Bull Bragantino and Blooming, this Thursday in Brazil, River leads Group H with 4 pointsabove Carabobo (3).
On the next date, Coudet’s team will travel to Brazil, but none of that will matter this week, which It will close with the Superclásico in Núñez, starting at 5 p.m. on Sunday and with AM850 Premium broadcast.
