JUNIN, Argentina (Reuters) -River Plate were held 1-1 at Sarmiento in the Argentine Primera Division Apertura tournament on Saturday after Juan Manuel Insaurralde struck just before halftime to cancel out Miguel Borja's opener for the visitors.
It was River's third consecutive league draw and leaves them fourth in Group B with 21 points, four behind leaders Rosario Central. Sarmiento remain 12th on 10 points.
"The reality is that we struggled a bit, we wanted to continue to improve but we know that the league is very difficult and very competitive," River captain Franco Armani told ESPN.
"Today we had to get three points to stay up there, but we have to keep working and look forward."
Borja put the visitors ahead on the half-hour mark when he tapped in Franco Mastantuono's pinpoint cross to beat goalkeeper Lucas Acosta, who had pulled off a couple of great saves to deny River an early lead.
Sarmiento thought they had equalised through Joaquin Gho in the 40th minute but his effort was ruled out for offside. Just four minutes later, however, Insaurralde brought the hosts level by pouncing on some sloppy River defending.
Both sides came close after the break and River were awarded a penalty after Acosta appeared to bring down Facundo Colidio in the box, but the referee overturned his decision after a VAR review in the 78th minute.
River goalkeeper Armani denied Sarmiento a late winner with a crucial fingertip save, deflecting substitute Pablo Magnin's close-range shot onto the crossbar four minutes from time.
"I'm happy because the team gave their all, we played a great game," Insaurralde said. "I think we had the clearest chances throughout, we played a great game on all lines."
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
