The VAR gives it to you and the VAR takes it away
In 2018, River Plate made a memorable comeback in Brazil, reaching the final of the CONMEBOL Libertadores Cup using a controversial penalty awarded by the VAR against Gremio. On Tuesday, the video assistance appeal to the referee was the main opponent of the Argentine giants as they failed to complete their rescue operation. After losing 3-0 at home to Brazilian club Palmeiras last week, River won the return game 2-0, and there may have been some complaints in the review if they scored enough goals to make it to the final.
With a tremendous sense of relief, Palmeiras can now party like it was 1999 – the last time he won the match – as he waits for the winner of the other semi-final between his local rivals Santos and Argentina’s team Boca Juniors.
Palmeiras flirted with disaster, much of it his own responsibility. The coach, Abel Ferreira, kept the system he used in the first leg – It worked in Buenos Aires, although his team tried its luck in the first half. However, it was not the right choice for this party. Right back Marcos Rocha was mainly used as a central defender on the right, a role that does not suit him very well. Under Pressure – Palmeiras was under pressure for most of the game – he was left with a bottom of five, leaning back in his counter-attack, but found himself lacking possession as River strived to get the ball back to goal. Palmeiras was outnumbered in midfield, allowing River to accelerate. And, just like last week, he leaned on his right side, giving too much room to River’s right-back predator, Gonzalo Montiel.
There were brief flashes of danger from Palmeiras forwards, Luiz Adriano and Rony, but River spent most of the game passing the Brazilian midfield, and from the start the home side’s defense spread far and wide. .
River managed to score twice before half time. The central defender Robert Rojas headed to the goal from a corner kick, and later Nico De La Cruz was with a cross that hooked Matías Suárez so that Rafael Santos Borré got behind Rocha and scored the second.
At half-time, Ferreira brought forward attacking midfielder Gustavo Scarpa and brought in Breno Lopes, sending a clear signal that his intention was to defend and take advantage of the counterattack.
But that never happened.
It was a one-way street, and shortly after the restart River passed the overall score – or so it seemed at the time.. It was an action over the left, where Fabrizio Angileri kicked a cross to the post that hit Montiel with a volley. And then the VAR show started. After a long wait, due to an offside discovered on a previous move, the goal was declared void.
As the pressure from River increased, Ferreira finally made the change that secured his midfield by passing Gabriel Menino to the side to have three in the middle and putting Breno Lopes in charge of the flank. This set the tide and the matter seemed to have turned decisively in Palmeiras ‘favor for the past 20 minutes as River suffered from Rojas’ ouster. This was another controversial decision, but it was not prompted by the VAR. Rojas’ second yellow card was more of an awkward clash than a cynical foul, but Uruguayan referee Esteban Ostojich took red. Palmeiras had collected cards and some players, especially the midfielder, Danilo, were on the line. But River was the team that found one less and played with 10.
Surprisingly, it made no difference when it came to the approach to the game. Palmeiras is more comfortable during the quick break – last week they didn’t take advantage of the half hour against a team of 10 when they could have decided the game – but they were pushed to the bottom nonetheless. River was soon handed a penalty, with Suárez falling for Alan Empereur’s attack. Montiel was preparing to kick when the VAR stepped in and determined, perhaps correctly, that there had been little or no contact and that Suarez had fallen before, looking for the fault.
But River continued. Weverton in goal Palmeiras was busy and when he was outdone on the post he was lucky enough to have a man on the line who could come to his rescue.
There was time for more controversy with the VAR in the 10th minute of overtime. Santos Borré was behind substitute Benjamin Kuscevic and fell awkwardly. It was awkward. But was it an offense? The referee turned back to the screen.
A very important definition was about to be taken, but no doubt much to the referee’s relief, an offside was discovered again at the start of the match and Palmeiras managed to get away with it. Your shot at glory comes on January 30th.
On Tuesday evening, however, most of the glory went to River Plate. If this is the end – as has so often been speculated – of the six and a half year reign of the coach, Marcelo Gallardo, he will leave with very good results, regretting that it could not have taken a little longer to get to the top to finish. tonight.