📝Godoy Cruz 0-4 River Plate: Lucas Pratto stars in emphatic win | OneFootball

Wednesday night saw River Plate travel to face Godoy Cruz in a makeup date for a matchday 13 contest.

While they have struggled in the Superliga Argentina lately, losing their last three consecutive league matches, Los Millonarios rounded into form at the Malvinas Argentinas Stadium.

Lucas Pratto opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute. The forward collected a crisp pass from Exequiel Palacios and beat goalkeeper Roberto Ramírez at his near post.

In the 24th minute, Rafael Santos Borré was incorrectly called offside and his goal was chalked off.

Borré stepped up to dispatch a penalty past Ramírez in the 29th minute to double River’s lead after drawing the foul inside the area.

Shortly thereafter, centre back Tomás Cardona earned his marching orders for a reckless challenge in the middle of the pitch. Cardona stuck his foot into the face of River Plate right-back Gonzalo Montiel and was subsequently shown a straight red card in the 34th minute.

In the second half, River Plate resumed putting their hosts to the sword.

Pratto popped up just five minutes after the break with his team’s third of the night.

Milton Casco crossed from the left flank and the 30-year-old forward headed the ball out of the reach of Ramírez at the far post in the 50th minute.

To put the cherry on top of the sundae, Pratto turned provider to set up Matías Suárez on his River debut with a ball over the top of the Godoy Cruz defence.

Suárez put substitute centre back Facundo Cobos on skates before blasting in his first goal for his new club in the 82nd minute.

The final score reflected an emphatic display for River Plate. La Banda are still only on 22 points after 15 matches played, but a first win after three straight defeats should do wonders for morale.

Godoy Cruz remain on 23 points, having played 16 matches in the Superliga Argentina. They’ve not won just one time in their previous five league games and face Boca Juniors in their next match on Sunday.