2-2 comeback leaves River Plate and Velez Sarsfield with a point

River Plate drew 2-2 with Velez Sarsfield after surrendering a two-goal half-time lead in Sunday’s Liga Profesional Argentina Clausura round-six meeting at Estadio Mâs Monumental. River looked in control early, but Velez recovered after the interval and secured a point through goals from Diego Valdés and Manuel Lanzini.

River take early control

River opened the scoring in the 11th minute. Ángel Correa finished a move assisted by Lucas Martinez Quarta, giving the hosts an early advantage. River continued to hold the greater share of possession and went into the break 2-0 ahead when T. Silvero put through his own goal in the 43rd minute.

The first half also saw Aníbal Moreno booked for River in the 41st minute. River’s lead appeared comfortable, particularly with the hosts completing 444 of 530 passes at an 84% accuracy rate, compared with Velez’s 315 accurate passes from 400 at 79%.

Velez complete the recovery

The visitors changed the direction of the match after the restart. Diego Valdés came on in the 58th minute and reduced the deficit three minutes later, scoring from a pass by M. Pellegrini. Valdés’ impact was immediate and earned him the highest match rating, 7.5, despite playing only 31 minutes; he also registered one shot on target and one tackle.

Velez then levelled in the 79th minute. E. Gomez supplied the assist for Lanzini, who scored to make it 2-2. Gomez was booked a minute earlier, while Martinez Quarta received River’s second yellow card in the 80th minute. Lanzini was replaced by A. Veron in the 87th minute as Velez held on to the draw.

Possession did not decide the result

River had 57% possession and a narrow advantage in total shots, 12 to 11, but Velez produced more shots on target, four to three, and more efforts from inside the box, eight to six. The visitors also won four corners to River’s three and finished with the higher expected-goals figure, 0.76 to 0.53. Those numbers reflected a more even contest than the half-time score suggested.

A point for both teams

The draw added one point to each side. River’s listed Clausura record of one win and four losses from five games became one win, one draw and four losses, taking the team from three to four points. Velez, listed third in Group A with 11 points from five matches and an unbeaten record, moved to 12 points after extending that record to three wins and three draws. River’s Giovanni González, Moreno and Velez’s Rodrigo Aliendro also stood out, with González making three tackles and Moreno five.