OneFootball
Brendan Doherty·19 August 2018
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Brendan Doherty·19 August 2018
River Plate registered a whopping 27 total shots in Saturday nightâs match but failed to score against Belgrano.
With a full 80% of possession and 12 corner kicks, the home side dominated the statistics sheet but ended the match with just a point.
River Plate goalkeeper Franco Armani has now played 800 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal in the Superliga, passing the feat achieved by club legend Amadeo Carrizo. The Argentina national team goalkeeper now holds the record for the longest streak without giving up a goal in the clubâs history.
For his part, visiting goalkeeper César Rigamonti stood on his head to prevent the home side from scoring despite controlling the match.
Belgrano left-back Sebastiån Luna came closest to opening the scoring when he nearly put a cross into his own net in the 24th minute. Luckily for the visitors, the potential own goal came back off the goal-post and Belgrano cleared their lines.
Luna troubled his own goalkeeper again in the second half when he sliced an attempted clearance backwards. The ball bounced off the crossbar but Rigamonti crashed into the post while back-tracking on the play in the 55th minute.
Belgranoâs goalkeeper certainly earned his paycheck against La Banda and ended the match with 7 saves. In the 80th minute, Rigamonti smothered a chance from Rafael Santos BorrĂ©. After blocking a River Plate cross, the goalkeeper reacted quickly to steal the rebound off the foot of BorrĂ© before the Colombian could fire in the breakthrough from inside the six-yard box.
Veteran midfielder Enzo Pérez hit a curling strike from distance but Rigamonti did well to throw his right arm out while diving to push the shot wide in the 87th minute.
After two games, River Plate have not yet scored a goal in the Superliga Argentina. On the other side of the coin, the perennial powerhouse club have not conceded so far this season either. While Armani will probably continue his strong play, his club are not likely to be shut-out often when playing such dominant attacking football.
Belgrano finished the match without a single shot on target. Without a stand-out performance from Rigamonti, the visitors could have been on the wrong end of a rout.
Both teams find themselves on two points with identical records after each playing two scoreless draws to start the 2018 Superliga Argentina campaign.