Independiente Rivadavia know no limits: beat La Guaira 4-2 | OneFootball

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

The match took a while 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 an off-target shot from the home side and an appearance by 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. Because when 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 a ruthless header to put La Lepra ahead, and by then they were already showing they were the better team. Sebastián Villa provided the key assist for the Paraguayan.

From that goal on, Alfredo Berti’s side fully took control of the match. With patience to move the ball and the personality to play far from its own goal, El Azul gradually tilted the field toward Venezuelan territory. The 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 the second, once again with an aerial effort.

However, just when it 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 hint at a shift in the match’s atmosphere. But La Lepra has too much quality in attack, and Fernández once again caused havoc down the left before delivering a masterful assist to the Colombian Villa, who finished first time.

The goal was left in suspense because of an error by assistant referee No. 2, Nadia Weiler, who flagged for offside without allowing the so-called delayed flag, a VAR protocol directive that indicates the flag should be held on a possible offside until the play is over. Meanwhile, the main referee, Mario Díaz de Vivar, let play continue. Finally, through VAR, the play was confirmed: there was no offside.

It showed its class in Venezuela

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

The one who did manage to strike 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 set the tone 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 to make it 4-2.

A blue rout, with another performance up to expectations and in line with the dream 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.