River Plate, Monterrey play to a lively scoreless draw in Club World Cup

River Plate’s Franco Mastantuono takes a free kick during the Club World Cup Group E soccer match
between River Plate and CF Monterrey in Pasadena, Calif., Saturday

River Plate and Monterrey played to a lively 0-0 draw on Saturday night in the second round of group play at the Club World Cup.

River Plate had 18 shot attempts, but the Argentine powerhouse got none of its six shots on goal past Monterrey goalkeeper Esteban Andrada, a native of Argentina.

Monterrey got two of its three shot attempts on net, but Franco Armani also kept a clean sheet for River Plate.

The teams traded 40 combined fouls and eight yellow cards throughout a chippy match at the Rose Bowl before a raucous crowd of 57,393, with both teams benefitting from large supporter sections on each end of the famed stadium.

River Plate had the first half’s best scoring chances.

Andrada stopped a free kick in the 27th minute by Franco Mastantuono, the 17-year-old midfielder headed to Real Madrid next season. Giuliano Galoppo’s unobstructed shot from the penalty area curled over Monterrey’s net shortly before halftime, and Lucas Martínez Quarta brutally shanked a point-blank volley moments later.

River Plate’s Kevin Castaño was sent off in second-half injury time with his second yellow card, but Monterrey didn’t capitalize.

Monterrey opened Club World Cup play four days earlier with an impressive draw against Champions League finalist Inter Milan.

River Plate also looked sharp in a 3-1 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds in its opener in Seattle.

Key moment

In the 76th minute, Andrada smothered Miguel Borja’s dangerous close-range shot after a run into the box.

Takeaways

Nothing is decided in Group E. Inter and River Plate are on top with four points each, but they must play each other on Wednesday in Seattle while Monterrey, which has two points, takes on winless Urawa in Pasadena.

What they said

“I think we were hurt a lot by the constant fouls when we came out with the ball. We had talked about it. River has many qualities. One of them is winning games, and another is committing a lot of fouls, which they did. It becomes a different kind of game.” —Monterrey coach Domenec Torrent

“I saw a clear superiority in many parts of the match. We just lacked the goal. Monterrey barely gave us any shots on goal in the second half, (but) I think we left a very good impression.” —River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo. GREG BEACHAM, PASADENAMDT/AP