Ariel Ortega Rescues River Plate in Opener

In front of a capacity crowd at the legendary Estadio Monumental, River Plate looked flat in one of the most anticipated opening matches in recent history.

With eight new signings on display along with the usual suspects of Ariel Ortega and Matias Almeyda, the immense following of River Plate was expecting to see an explosion.

In the end, the fans got what they came for, but for 90 minutes, River was the weaker of the two sides and was saved on multiple occasions by goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo.

Carrizo, entering his third spell with the club, made a number of key saves, most notably 30 seconds into the second half when Diego Castano's blast from the top of the area seemed destined for the bottom corner only for the ex-Lazio man to tip the shot wide for a corner. 

Earlier in the match, Martin Galmarini had struck the post with a searing drive just before Carrizo saved Denis Stracqualursi's header from point blank range. 

While River's defense seemed disorganized with a number of two of the four starters new to the club, offensively Los Millonarios were equally poor, failing to create a single clear opportunity during the opening period before Ortega shot just wide seconds before the break. 

Diego Buonanotte, an Olympic Gold medalist with Argentina in 2008, was unable to make his mark on the game as expected, while 17 year-old wonderkid Manuel Lanzini showed flashes of brilliance, but was replaced at half time. 

In the second half, chances were again few and far between for River. 

Ortega picked out Rogelio Funes Mori with a free kick on the hour mark, and the 19 year old striker's looping header landed on the roof of the net with Tigre keeper Daniel Islas scrambling. 

Tigre seemed to be content with a point, but River pushed forward throwing on former Velez Sarsfield striker Leandro Caruso for defensive midfielder Walter Acevedo. 

Even though all of the intent was staying with River, the game seemed destined for a scoreless draw before Carrizo's perfect long pass found Ortega in stride, and the captain skipped passed a defender with a brilliant gambeta. 

Rather than going for individual glory, the ex-Valencia and Sampdoria man chipped a perfect cross into the path of Funes Mori who slotted the header into the back of the net, sending El Monumental into a state of bedlam. 

The brilliant play from Ortega will only add to his status of one of the club's greatest all-time idols. 

At 36, El Burrito has signed a contract through the end of the 2010-2011 season when he says he will like to go into coaching, although it seems unlikely that retirement is imminent if he continues playing at such a high level. 

It was not the most ideal opening to the tournament, but with new signing Mariano Pavone still yet to debut due to injury, the hope of fighting for the title is very much a live in Nunez. 

Next week, River takes on Huracan, the ex-team of coach Angel Cappa.