River Plate’s Matias Rojas scored late to salvage a 1-1 draw at Platense after a blunder by the visiting goalkeeper had given the hosts the lead in the start of their Argentine Primera Division campaign on Saturday.
River keeper Franco Armani gifted Platense the lead just 12 minutes into the game when he initially caught Ignacio Vazquez’s effort off a Vicente Taborda free-kick but then fumbled the ball into his own net.
Marcelo Gallardo’s side pushed hard for an equaliser and dominated possession, failing however to breach a solid Platense backline before halftime, with home goalkeeper Juan Pablo Cozzani blocking Manuel Lanzini’s attempt.
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Platense came close to extending their lead after the break, but Augusto Lotti missed a chance one-on-one with Armani. Substitute Rojas levelled the scoring three minutes from time, capitalising on a poor clearance by Cozzani to head into an empty net and rescue visitor River’s first point in the new Apertura season.
“We came here to win, we prepared for that, we had an extraordinary pre-season, obviously we leave with a bad feeling,” said Rojas, who joined River from Inter Miami in the off-season.
“We did things well but it was difficult because the pitch was a bit dry, that’s no excuse, we have to adapt to whatever we have to face.
“We started the season like this, we have things to improve.” River host Instituto on Wednesday.
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