Buenos Aires, Aug 21 (EFE).- River Plate achieved a good 2-1 victory over Talleres de Córdoba on Wednesday to seal its qualification to the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores, where it will face Colo Colo of Chile, which eliminated Junior de Barranquilla.
An opening goal by Colombian Miguel Borja (m.34) and the second by Santiago Simón (m.50) increased River’s lead (1-0 in the first leg in Córdoba), while Federico Girotti (m.69) scored the only goal for the Cordoba native in the series.
Marcelo Gallardo’s River went out to bet and look to extend the advantage with which it arrived at this duel in front of its fans, but it only managed to do so in the 34th minute with a failed exit by Talleres from the back that ended with a backheel by Rodrigo Aliendro for the finish by Miguel Borja before Guido Herrera’s exit, to celebrate his twenty-sixth goal in 30 games played this year.
With this advantage, the Millionaires went into the break to be able to approach the second half with more peace of mind, where River was decisive at the start and in the 50th minute they defined it with a precise cross from Maximiliano Meza for the goal-scoring arrival of Santiago Simón, who tipped the ball in to extend the lead to three in the series.
Talleres rotated the bench and in the 69th minute a triangular play by the visitors ended with a cross back for Federico Girotti to score the discount and ask for forgiveness for his past at Millonario.
The rest of the match showed a Talleres that had no reaction to reduce the deficit again and a River that could not increase the lead and only dedicated itself to waiting for the end to increase its lead to twelve wins in fourteen head-to-head series defined at home with Marcelo Gallardo as coach.
In September there will be a trans-Andean duel between River and Colo Colo, with the first leg in Santiago de Chile and the final at the Monumental in Buenos Aires.
– Technical sheet:
2. River Plate: Franco Armani; Santiago Simon (m.63, Claudio Echeverri), Matias Kranevitter (m.75, Ignacio Fernandez), Rodrigo Aliendro (m.46, Rodrigo Villagra), Maximiliano Meza, Franco Mastantuono (m.63, Facundo Colidio); Miguel Borja.
Coach: Marcelo Gallardo.
1. Cordoba Workshops: Guido Herrera; Gaston Benavidez, Matias Catalan, Juan Portillo, Blas Riveros; Juan Portilla (d.75, Marcos Portillo), Franco Moyano (d.51, Matias Esquivel), Matias Galarza (d.67, Diego Ortegoza), Sebastian Palacios (d.68, Ruben Botta), Cristian Tarragona, Bruno Barticciotto (d.52, Federico Girotti).
Coach: Walter Ribonetto.
Goals: 1-0 m.34: Miguel Borja. 2-0 m.50: Santiago Simón. 2-1 m.69: Federico Girotti.
Referee: Uruguayan Gustavo Tejera cautioned Miguel Borja, Gaston Benavidez and Matias Galarza.
Incidents: Second leg of the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores played at the Antonio Vespucio Liberti ‘Monumental’ Stadium, in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Núñez.
