Union and River They tied 0-0 in Santa Fe. In this way, the Tatengue could not climb to the top of the Professional Leaguewhile the team from Núñez regained its composure. Although it was unable to win away from home again, it at least left positive signs in its game in view of the return of Marcelo Gallardo. Thiago Cardozo, the goalkeeper of Kily González’s team, had two key saves in the first half and was the star of the match.
The first few minutes were already intense, and there were chances to score at both ends. First, Unión came through with a cross to Balboa, who appeared alone in the centre of the area and was unable to connect with the ball, under the gaze of Paulo Díaz, who was setting him up.
River responded later. The team temporarily led by Marcelo Escudero began to control the ball, with a great presence from Rodrigo Aliendro. The midfielder provided an assist by heading the ball down to Mastantutono, who was one-on-one with Cardozo but the shot went wide.
Just a little while later River had another clear chance through a dead ball. Gonzalez Pirez He headed the corner and Cardozo He managed to get it out twice, with the help of the stick in the middle.
River looked everywhere. And they generated play from the mobility of their midfielders. Mastantuono led and Aliendro and Simón shared the production. They played two touches and quickly. Then, the attacks flowed. Thus, there was another arrival in which Simón appeared to define but his shot bounced off a Unión defender and went wide.
River showed several resources. One of them was Mastantuono’s shot. And with his prodigious left foot he almost opened the scoring. The youngster took a corner from the left with a curl outwards that looked for Paulo Díaz’s head. The Chilean hit the ball and hit the post. The rebound went to González Pirez, who also headed it but Cardozo stretched to clear it.
In the second half, the forces were equal. River no longer had such clear attacks. And Unión grew stronger through fighting. But they lacked ideas in attack. They only relied on long balls to Balboa, who was generally well controlled by the central defenders, who had to be alert because the Tatengue striker was a latent threat.
Little by little, Unión was getting closer and closer to River’s area. Not only with Balboa but also with Morales, but they needed the last touches to worry Franco Armani. And when they were close, González Pirez and Paulo Díaz were attentive to cut off the plays.
Escudero was slow to make changes and River felt it. The team fell into a lethargy, which made them lose consistency in the game. Even so, Núñez’s team managed to create danger. After another dead ball, González Pirez hit the crossbar.
And Cardozo arrived quicker than Borja to prevent the Colombian from being in a position to score after a good pass from Lanzini. The Colombian left disappointed. Not only because he had no clear chances to score, but because he was complaining about a foul in the rival area.
Unión tried hard until the end. And Gamba overflowed in the last play but the Chilean Díaz managed to tip the ball to stop the danger. The match ended 0-0. In the end, both sides were satisfied. Unión because they continue to fight at the top and River because they were not hurt in the run-up to Marcelo Gallardo’s return.
