When the tight celebration with all his teammates had ended and while the stands were chanting his last name, Federico Mancuello He raised his arms apologizing, knelt down and kissed the Bochini floor, “his” grass, “his” field. There were 31 minutes of the first half, Gabriel Ávalos with a soft touch from the ground had left him in front of the goal in the center of the area, Jorge Broun blocked his first shot, but he did not miss the rebound and was able to shout his first goal since he returned from Mexico, in the middle of last year.
A lifelong Independiente fan, Mancuello had forced his return to support his club doing what he knows best, after having been the leader of the former players in the collection organized by Santiago Maratea. However, since then, his performances had added one disappointment after another. Neither goals, nor assists, nor continued play, nor the leadership that was supposed to come from quality and experience. Until one night…
The fan arrived Independent trying to get the diagnosis right for a team that in four games had garnered more points than applause, and with one criticism above all others: there is no line of play, no idea of what they want to do. Carlos Tevez He had been thinking about formation and tactics one game after another. Against Rosario Central the screw turned once again. In this case, with a new 4-1-4-1 this year, and it turned out well.
El Rojo offered, especially in the first half, the best version of 2024 and, in addition to the disposition on the field, the vertex of the improvement was his number 11. Positioned as an inside midfielder on the left, Mancuello finally gave him the criteria that the Apache team had lacked until now, and from the right touches and with the always correct speed of his left foot, Independiente added arguments to surpass the current League Cup champion for a long time.
The best of Red’s victory
The red midfield had dynamics with Lucas González and Gabriel Neves, daring with Axel Luna, depth on the outside with Mauricio Isla and Damián Pérez, and recovery and more clean starts with Iván Marcone. But also, he was finally able to show that line that Tevez claimed to see in training but was conspicuous by his absence in the games. A lot of short touch, massive arrival to the rival area and determination on the mark. He did not forget the long pass to Ávalos, who pivoted very well, but only as another variant.
In that period the local team lacked the necessary precision to transform dominance into clear chances. There was a header from Ávalos at 7 that went wide, and a couple of shots – from Neves and Luna – that were barely high, but in general Rojo lacked the necessary calm, or perhaps the category point that he seeks so much, to put the right center and find the precise shot.
Central? He wanted to play, he didn’t go back, but he spent a good part of the night in tow of the venue. He had his big chance at 26 in the first half, when Tobías Cervera was one-on-one with Rodrigo Rey and his cross shot grazed the right post. But despite the efforts of Ignacio Malcorra and Mauricio Martínez in the middle, and the push of Emanuel Coronel on the right, it took him a world to get close to Rojo’s goal.
Even in the second half, when neither the fairness of the touch nor the volume of arrivals were the same, the Red continued to be more. Then another of the values that nourished the fan’s diagnosis before the game appeared: the determination and collective effort to fight for each divided ball and hinder the final attacks of a very opaque, gray Central, with no other argument than to throw centers on set pieces. . He almost tied it in the last one, when the rebound fell to Cervera and Rey took away a tie that would not have been fair.
Independiente added another 1 to 0. But in this case, it added something new: it changed its image, it showed that it is possible to play better, that what its people demand may be less far away than it seemed. And he also celebrated a goal from one of his own. He celebrated Mancuello and the fans celebrated. Almost a blessing in such difficult times.
Themes
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