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Chelsea youngster Kendry P\u00e1ez has delivered the perfect response to recent criticism, scoring his first goal for River Plate just days after a difficult Supercl\u00e1sico outing.<\/strong><\/p>\n The 18-year-old, on loan from Chelsea, came off the bench against Aldosivi and needed only a handful of minutes to make his mark. P\u00e1ez scored late in the game to seal the result, finishing into the top corner after a sharp attacking move.<\/p>\n It was his first goal for River, and it arrived at a moment when his role and confidence were both under scrutiny.<\/p>\n P\u00e1ez had been heavily criticised following River\u2019s defeat to Boca Juniors, where he struggled to influence the game and was labelled \u201ca soft player\u201d<\/strong> by club legend Reinaldo Merlo.<\/p>\n However, manager Eduardo Coudet kept faith<\/strong> with the youngster, and the Ecuadorian responded in the most direct way possible.<\/p>\n He entered the pitch late on and showed composure beyond his age. After a well-timed run and a precise through ball, P\u00e1ez cut inside onto his left foot and produced a composed finish into the corner<\/strong>.<\/p>\n According to Argentine outlet Ole<\/strong>the goal was not just decisive, but symbolic. The report describes how he had waited, wanted and even dreamed of that first goal since arriving at River, finally breaking his drought in his eighth appearance for the club.<\/p>\n The outlet further frames the moment as a \u201cshock of confidence\u201d for the youngster, especially with the final stretch of the season approaching and the World Cup on the horizon.<\/p>\n Crucially, Ol\u00e9 also links this phase of his career back to Chelsea\u2019s investment, noting that P\u00e1ez is still searching for the explosive level that earned him an early move to Europe and this high-profile loan arranged by the Premier League club.<\/p>\n P\u00e1ez is still searching for consistency, but he has now shown he can respond under pressure.<\/p>\n That context reinforces the idea that, even in Argentina, his performances are being measured against the expectations created when Chelsea secured his signing as one of South America\u2019s standout prospects.<\/p>\n It also ended a long wait. P\u00e1ez had not scored since September last year, when he was still at Strasbourg.<\/p>\n After the match, Kendry P\u00e1ez himself spoke about the significance of the moment and his desire to build on it.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very happy, to be honest. I\u2019m happy to score my first goal with this shirt. I hope there are many more and to always give joy to the fans,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n The Chelsea-owned midfielder also revealed he had been waiting for that moment, even planning how he would celebrate it.<\/p>\n \u201cI had said it in training, with my teammates, that when I scored my first goal I was going to dance. It just came out naturally,\u201d<\/em> he added.<\/p>\n Kendry P\u00e1ez\u2019s loan spell at River has been inconsistent so far. He has gone from being a decisive substitute<\/strong>to facing criticism, and now to scoring his first goal.<\/p>\n That volatility is part of the development process, but moments like this can shift momentum quickly.<\/p>\n For River, it provides a reminder of his quality. And for Chelsea, it offers encouragement that their long-term investment is beginning to find its rhythm again.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chelsea youngster Kendry P\u00e1ez has delivered the perfect response to recent criticism, scoring his first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Immediate response after criticism<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Interpretations of a big moment<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Player reaction \u2013 confidence growing<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What it means for Chelsea and the loan<\/strong><\/h2>\n