River Plate ease past Urawa Red Diamonds in opening match of FIFA Club World Cup

TPO - River Plate opened their FIFA Club World Cup campaign with a favorable 3-1 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds at Lumen Field (Seattle, USA).

Facundo Colidio opened the scoring.

River Plate's three goals were scored by Facundo Colidio, Sebastian Driussi and Maximiliano Meza.

The Argentine team took the initiative and opened the scoring in the 12th minute, when Colidio headed the ball into the net after an accurate cross from the left wing by Marcos Acuna.

“We needed to start the tournament this way. We believed we could do it, even though we knew it would be a difficult game,” Colidio said after the match. “We took our chances well, that’s why we won. We also knew we had to play with high intensity and we did it.”

Urawa almost equalised before the break, when Marius Hoibraten's goal was ruled out for offside.

In the second half, River Plate increased the gap after only three minutes of play. Taking advantage of Hoibraten's mistake with a careless header, Driussi beat goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa to increase the score to 2-0.

Shortly after, Driussi was forced off the field due to injury while attempting to score. In the 58th minute, Urawa reduced the gap to 1-2, after Yusuke Matsuo successfully converted a penalty after Acuna fouled him in the penalty area.

In the 73rd minute, substitute Maxi Meza headed in a dangerous header from Acuna's corner, the left-back's second assist of the match, sealing a 3-1 victory for the South American side.

“I am happy with the opening game. There was pressure, so it was important to win,” said River coach Marcelo Gallardo. “Urawa are a team with speed, physicality and dynamism, we expected that. The goals gave us peace of mind, but the team still has a lot to improve on in the road ahead.”

River Plate will face Monterrey (Mexico), while Urawa Red Diamonds will face Inter Milan - UEFA Champions League runners-up - in the next match of Group E.

Trong Dat

Source: https://tienphong.vn/river-plate-nhe-nhang-vuot-qua-urawa-red-diamonds-tran-mo-man-fifa-club-world-cup-post1752261.tpo