River won it late away to Carabobo in Venezuela | OneFootball

On a night that had everything, Eduardo Coudet’s team beat the Venezuelan side 2-1 and strengthened its hold on the top of Copa Sudamericana Group H. Maximiliano Salas was the hero in a finale where River ended up with a defender in goal.

River returned from Valencia with three points worth gold, but above all, with an epic victory that will be remembered for the sheer absurdity of its ending. In a thrilling match, El Millonario had to overcome everything: a penalty missed by Juanfer Quintero in the first half, the sending-off of goalkeeper Santiago Beltrán near the end, and the need to finish the game with Uruguayan Matías Viña between the posts because they had no substitutions left.

The match was a roller coaster. After a scrappy first half in which Argentine goalkeeper Lucas Bruera saved a penalty from Quintero, the scoring was finally opened 14 minutes into the second half thanks to a precise header from Maximiliano Meza. However, the calm did not last long. In the 32nd minute, Matías Núñez equalized from the penalty spot for Carabobo, and shortly after, the outlook darkened with Beltrán’s red card following a foul outside the box.

On the final play, Maximiliano Salas poked the ball past Bruera as he came off his line and unleashed Eduardo Coudet’s delirium, with the coach ending up celebrating on the ground, wrapped in an embrace with his staff. “Let ambition overcome fear”, he said at the press conference, summing up the commitment of a team that, despite the adversity, never stopped pushing.

MATCH SUMMARY

Carabobo (1): Lucas Bruera; Alexander González, Ezequiel Neira, Jonathan Bilbao; Leonardo Aponte, Matías Núñez, Edson Castillo, Juan Camilo Pérez; Yohandry Orozco, Loureins Martínez and Edson Tortolero. Head coach: Daniel Farías.

River Plate (2): Santiago Beltrán; Fabricio Bustos, Germán Pezzella, Facundo González, Matías Viña; Giuliano Galoppo, Lucas Silva (Lautaro Pereyra), Maximiliano Meza (Juan Cruz Meza), Juanfer Quintero (Kendry Páez); Santiago Lencina (Facundo Colidio) and Joaquín Freitas (Maximiliano Salas). Head coach: Eduardo Coudet.

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