River Plate downs Argentinos Juniors 2-0 behind goals from Montiel and Correa at the Monumental

River Plate beat Argentinos Juniors 2-0 at the Mas Monumental, with goals from Gonzalo Montiel in the 36th minute and Angel Correa from the penalty spot in the 88th, in a matchup from Argentina's Primera Division. The result let the home side collect all three points despite not controlling the ball for large stretches of the match.

The first half was even at times, with play swinging back and forth and a string of fouls breaking up the rhythm. River broke through on a sequence that began with a shot from Thiago Almada from the middle of the box that was blocked: the rebound fell to Gonzalo Montiel, who finished with his left foot to make it 1-0 at the 36 minute mark. Earlier, Almada and Lucas Martinez Quarta had come close without luck, while on the Argentinos side, Hernan Lopez tried his luck from outside the box without causing much trouble. The teams went into the break with that slim margin intact.

In the second half, Argentinos Juniors took a firmer grip on possession and put together a few dangerous moments, including Hernan Lopez's shot that crashed off the crossbar in the 51st minute and a chance for Emiliano Viveros shortly after. River, having brought on Rafael Borre and Fausto Vera, worked to hold the lead and add to it in the closing stretch. The match was settled on a play inside the box in the 85th minute, when Angel Correa was fouled by Gabriel Florentin inside the area. After a VAR review confirmed the penalty in the 86th minute, Correa himself stepped up to convert from the spot in the 88th minute, sealing the final 2-0.

A match short on clear chances

The numbers point to a fairly even contest in terms of overall volume of play, with Argentinos Juniors carrying the bulk of possession while River made the most of the little it created.

According to an in-house estimate based on the match's shots, River produced xG of 1.68 against Argentinos Juniors' 0.64, a gap that backs up the scoreline even though the visitors controlled more of the ball and, per the data, had one clear-cut chance they could not convert.

What the preview said versus what happened on the field

Ahead of kickoff, the published projection gave River Plate a 48% chance of winning, against 23% for Argentinos Juniors and 29% for a draw, with expected goals of 1.52 for the home side and 1 for the visitors. The outcome lined up with that forecast: River won, and by an even wider margin than expected, built on Montiel's finishing and Correa's conversion from the penalty spot.

What the result means

In Group B, the points gap between the two sides stood at 9 before this match, with Argentinos Juniors on top with 12 points from 5 matches (4 wins, no draws and 1 loss) and River Plate near the bottom of the table with just 3 points from 5 outings (1 win, 0 draws and 4 losses). Saturday's win doesn't change that underlying picture, but it does give River a victory it badly needed to start closing the gap, while Argentinos Juniors, despite the loss, remains the group's best performer to date.