River beats Banfield and remains at the top Marcelo Gallardo's team beat Banfield 1-0, thanks to a goal by Gustavo Canto, forced by Federico Girotti, and consolidated its position as the sole leader of the tournament.

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El Millonario tried to take the reins of the first half, even though Banfield was also dominating, and the match started to take place in the midfield. A few minutes later, Benjamin Rollheiser set up a good individual play, but failed to strike an accurate shot, sending the ball into Facundo Altamirano's hands. Meanwhile, the home team responded with a collective play on the right side and a cross that went across the box.

River asserted itself and gradually became the protagonist. Agustin Palavecino was on the attack and distributed the ball around. River had a very clear chance off a corner kick: Bruno Zuculini won and flicked the ball on with his head, but Felipe Peña failed to strike it coming from behind. On another counterattack by Banfield, Enrique Bologna made a low save on a shot by Juan Alvarez. Up the field, Federico Girotti held on and struck a shot, but Altamirano saved it.

Finally, the well-deserved first goal was scored off a left-footed pass from Palavecino: Girotti collected the rebound, dribbled the keeper and fired an uncomfortable shot, but Gustavo Canto scored an own goal when trying to clear the ball. Toward the end of the first half, Bologna made his presence felt once again by saving a free kick by Agustin Urzi and, in the last play, Milton Casco couldn’t score during a great counterattack.

In the first dangerous play of the second half, Rollheiser struck a nice shot that went high off a bad clearance by the defense. Banfield made a dangerous penetrating run with an overlapping run by Mauricio Cuero and a good save in the goal area by Peña and Bologna. When Jorge Carrascal came onto the field, River tried to destabilize Banfield in the attack and almost managed to do it with a good combination play between the Colombian player and Santiago Simon.

Thanks to this great victory, el Millonario widened its lead in the tournament and finished the matchday with a solid lead once again. On the next matchday, River will welcome San Lorenzo at the Monumental Stadium next Sunday.

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