Palmeiras survive late scare, beat River away in Copa quarter-finals | OneFootball

This Wednesday, Palmeiras gained an advantage in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores by defeating River Plate 2-1 in the first leg. In the first half, Gustavo Gómez and Vitor Roque scored for the Alviverde at the Estadio Monumental Más in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Quarta reduced the deficit for the Argentinians towards the end.

With this result, Verdão ended River Plate's 12-game unbeaten streak this season and handed the rival its first defeat in this edition of the continental tournament. Meanwhile, Abel Ferreira's team maintains its 100% record in the Libertadores.

Upcoming Matches for River Plate and Palmeiras

River Plate and Palmeiras will face each other again next Wednesday in the return leg, which will take place at Allianz Parque at 9:30 PM (Brasília time). The winner will face the victor of LDU vs São Paulo.

Before that, both teams have commitments in their national tournaments on Saturday. River Plate will face Atlético Tucumán at 9:15 PM in the Argentine Championship at Estadio Monumental José Fierro. Meanwhile, Palmeiras will host Fortaleza in the 24th round of the Brasileirão at 9 PM at Allianz Parque.

How was the match?

First Half

Palmeiras started the game with possession, trying to engage River Plate. In the first attacking move with more freedom, Flaco López won a corner. From the corner, Andreas Pereira sent it to the head of Gustavo Gómez, who headed it accurately and opened the scoring at the Monumental to give Verdão the lead. At 12 minutes, Khellven tried a shot from outside the area on the right, forcing Armani to palm it away.

Soon after, Vitor Roque was fouled near the area, and from the free-kick, Andreas Pereira shot directly, aiming for the corner, but saw Armani save it. Following that, at 19 minutes, the number 8 threatened River's goal again. He took a corner into the area, Lucas Evangelista headed it, hitting the post. Then, Andreas received the ball at the edge of the area, attempted a shot, but Portillo blocked it.

River's first shot came at 27 minutes. Paulo Díaz shot from outside the area, sending it over Weverton's goal. Palmeiras managed the game well and did not allow the Argentine team to grow. At 40 minutes, Verdão was lethal again in attack and extended the lead. Flaco López received from Andreas and made a good pass to Vitor Roque, who scored past Armani to make it 2-0.

Second Half

In the second half, River Plate returned trying to press Palmeiras but was stopped by the well-organized Alviverde defense. Early in the final stage, Acuña took a corner, Driussi headed it, but without much danger. About ten minutes later, Salas also tried, and Weverton saved it. The most dangerous chance for the Argentinians came at 17 minutes with a deflected shot. Verdão's goalkeeper fumbled the save, but Piquerez cleared it.

At 29 minutes, Acuña received the ball on the left and shot across, missing the target. With the lead, Palmeiras managed to control the game, holding back more and attacking less. At 35 minutes, the referee was called by VAR to review a possible penalty by Weverton on Montiel. After the review, a River offside was detected.

River Plate reduced the deficit at 43 minutes. Quarta received from Portillo near the edge of the area and shot firmly at the goal. The ball deflected off Emiliano Martínez and ended up in the back of Weverton's net. The Argentine team attempted a final push. Borja shot, but the ball deflected off Gómez and went out. Despite the pressure, Verdão held on to the victory and takes the advantage to Allianz Parque.

MATCH DETAILS RIVER PLATE 1X2 PALMEIRAS

Location: Estadio Más Monumental, Buenos Aires (ARG) Date: September 17, 2025 (Wednesday) Time: 9:30 PM (Brasília time) Referee: Jesus Valenzuela (VEN) Assistants: Jorge Urrego (VEN) and Tulio Moreno (VEN) VAR: Juan Soto (VEN)

Red card: None Yellow cards: Díaz, Acuña, Rivero, Montiel (River Plate); Lucas Evangelista, Aníbal Moreno, Weverton, and Facundo Torres (Palmeiras)

Goals: Quarta, 43′ of the 2nd half (River Plate); Gustavo Gómez, 5′ of the 1st half, Vitor Roque, 40′ of the 1st half (Palmeiras)

RIVER PLATE: Armani; Díaz (Martínez Quarta), Portillo, Rivero; Montiel, Fernández (Lencina), Pérez (Quintero), Castaño, Acuña; Driussi (Colidio) and Salas (Borja). Coach: Marcelo Gallardo

PALMEIRAS: Weverton; Khellven, Gustavo Gómez, Murilo, and Piquerez; Aníbal Moreno (Emiliano Martínez), Lucas Evangelista (Allan), Andreas Pereira (Raphael Veiga), and Felipe Anderson (Bruno Fuchs); Flaco López and Vitor Roque (Facundo Torres). Coach: Abel Ferreira

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