River in freefall in the Clausura, lose 1-0 to Gimnasia in La Plata | OneFootball

River fell 1-0 on the road to Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata at the Juan Carmelo Zerillo Stadium this Wednesday, on matchday two of the 2026 Torneo Clausura.

The match marked Ángel Correa’s first start for El Millonario after completing his move last Saturday, and although Eduardo Coudet’s side still struggled to get going in attack during the first half, the former San Lorenzo man was their standout performer, as he showed with his touch to send Joaquín Freitas through one-on-one in the 33rd minute, only for Nelson Insfrán to make the save.

However, those opening 45 minutes were also marked by some injury issues among River’s players. Both Correa and Mauro Arambarri, another signing in this transfer window, played most of the half carrying knocks—Correa after taking a blow to the knee from Enzo Martínez, and the Uruguayan after Alexis Steimbach came down hard on his ankle, which meant he could not return for the second half.

The match continued with similar incidents involving the home side, first with a foul by Nacho Fernández on Gonzalo Montiel early in the second half and then, after 15 minutes, with another injury-enforced substitution as Marcos Acuña made way for Facundo González. On the football side of things, River remained just as imprecise in creating danger up front and very fragile tracking back, which allowed Gimnasia to exploit spaces on the counterattack, particularly after the introduction of Maximiliano Zalazar.

The Núñez club ended up paying dearly for that defensive uncertainty 10 minutes from time, when El Lobo scored the winner. The move began on the right with a brilliant run from Ignacio Mirámón, and although Rodrigo Auzmendi could not connect with his cross, Zalazar collected the ball on the opposite flank and delivered a perfect assist onto the head of Steinbach, who left Santiago Beltrán with no chance.

Ariel Pereyra’s side then used the goal to keep piling pressure on the opposing defense, as shown by Steinbach’s powerful shot off the crossbar after a cross from Pedro Silva Torrejón. By contrast, the visitors’ only attacking chance came in the final minute of regulation, when a header from Lucas Martínez Quarta flew well wide. Gimnasia’s defense always had an answer to the crosses El Millonario kept sending in.

The five minutes of added time failed to spark any real response, and it sealed River’s fourth consecutive defeat, laying bare the serious creative and defensive transition problems in Coudet’s team, leaving him in a precarious position regarding his future.

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