🇦🇷 River Plate edge by Lanús in hard-fought Apertura win | OneFootball

Scorers: Borja 77'

River Plate's undefeated run in the opening weeks of the Apertura season continued tonight after a deserved yet narrow 1-0 win over Lanús at Estadio Mâs Monumental.

Firmly rooted in the top eight places of Zone B in the Apertura, River looks to put pressure on group leaders Rosario Central when they welcomed a Lanús side who had taken seven points from nine across their last three fixtures.

But it was all Los Millonarios across 90 minutes as Marcelo Gallardo's men were good value for more than just a single goal, but still tested their luck against Mauricio Pellegrino's Granate, who looked dangerous on the counter all evening.

It took River until the 77th minute to finally break the deadlock thanks to veteran Colombian forward Miguel Borja, who slotted past Lanus keeper Nahuel Losada from a tight angle.

A golden chance fell to the home side to put the result beyond doubt in the 84th minute when Borja had an opportunity to complete his brace after VAR awarded River a penalty, but he would balloon his effort over the bar from 12 yards out.

Lanus smelled blood in the water in the immediate aftermath of being let off the hook, and would eventually surpass River's number of shots on target while boasting an equal number of big chances on the night after a late surge in stoppage time.

Ultimately, River would hold on to all three points while pulling them level on 12 points with second-sitting Independiente and just two points off Rosario.

Lanus, who had kept three clean sheets during their recent undefeated run, remain eighth but only temporarily as they await Atlético Tucumán's result later tonight.

📸 ALEJANDRO PAGNI - AFP or licensors