River Plate relegated to second division in Argentina’s soccer

The Buenos Aires giant River Plate, who needed to overturn a 2-0 first leg deficit but fell short, went into their relegation/promotion play-off against National B division Belgrano team at a sold-out event that took place at Monumental, ended with a tie score of one to one.

The game began promisingly for River when they went ahead through Mariano Pavano after just six minutes scoring the first goal, but failed to build momentum to seal the deal. Guillermo Farre equaled the score with an annotation 17 minutes into the second half.

The home side had a chance to restore their advantage midway through second half, but Pavone saw a penalty superbly saved by visiting keeper Juan Olave.

River, team that won the last of their 33 Argentinean titles in the second half of the 2007-08 season, sunk into a play-off after a dismal end to the Clausura campaign. Their three-season points average required them to beat Belgrano in order to preserve the top-flight status they have enjoyed during their 110-year of existence in the sport.

But a 2-0 defeat on Wednesday night in Cordoba had prompted angry demonstrations from supporters and home fans had already started expressing their anger when the referee decided to blow the whistle ending the game 30 seconds before the scheduled time.

The media reported that objects were thrown into the field, enraged fans battled with riot police, and general chaos the result of the defeat.