Independiente Rivadavia keep soaring, thrash La Guaira 4-2 in Venezuela | OneFootball

In the Copa Libertadores, Independiente Rivadavia showed all its class in Venezuela, where it defeated La Guaira 4-2 on a historic night for the Mendoza side. Paraguayan striker Alex Arce scored a hat trick, while the other goal came from Colombian Sebastián Villa. Now they are looking to finish as the best team in the group stage.

The match was slow to come to life. In the opening minutes, Deportivo La Guaira and Independiente Rivadavia seemed to be studying each other too much, with few chances and a lot of play in midfield. Only a wayward shot from the home side and an appearance from Matías Fernández — the sharpest player early on — broke the monotony of an overly cautious contest.

La Lepra broke the deadlock

But the calm did not last long. Once the clock passed the 20-minute mark, Alex Arce did what he does best: show up where it hurts defenders the most. The striker rose in the box and powered home an unstoppable header to put La Lepra ahead, who by then were already showing they were the better team. Sebastián Villa provided the great assist for the Paraguayan.

From that goal on, Alfredo Berti’s team fully took control of the match. With patience in possession and the personality to play far from their own goal, El Azul gradually tilted the field toward Venezuelan territory. Their side-to-side circulation wore the opponent down and allowed Independiente to dictate the tempo almost at will. Juan Manuel Elordi even came within inches of making it 2-0, once again in the air.

However, just when they least deserved it, La Lepra took an unexpected blow. And it came from an unusual source for the Mendoza team: a set piece. A free kick dropped to the far post, there was a defensive lapse, and Diego Osio appeared unmarked to tap in the equalizer and suggest a shift in the feel of the match. But La Lepra has too much quality in attack, and Fernández once again created havoc down the left before gifting a brilliant assist to Colombian Villa, who finished first time.

The goal was left hanging because of an error by assistant referee No. 2 Nadia Weiler, who flagged for offside without applying the so-called delayed flag, a VAR protocol directive that says the flag should be raised late in a possible offside situation until the play is over. Meanwhile, head referee Mario Díaz de Vivar allowed play to continue. In the end, VAR validated the play: there was no offside.

They showed their class in Venezuela

At the start of the second half, Independiente Rivadavia increased its control of the match: it owned both the territory and the action. Before the 15-minute mark, La Lepra squandered a handful of chances through Villa and Fernández.

The one who did manage to score again was Paraguayan Arce, who took advantage of a rookie mistake by goalkeeper Cristopher Varela and finished to make it 3-1.

Berti’s shout showed the way for the Mendoza side: “One more, one more,” the coach demanded. And La Lepra did not let up. Arce pushed forward and completed his hat trick to reach eight goals in the continental competition. After that, there was only time left for a stunning free-kick goal by Juan Castellano for the 4-2.

A blue rout, with another performance that lived up to expectations and to the wish of an entire people: to be the best team in the Group Stage.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.