Argentine Superliga round-up round 10: Newell’s pile on River’s misery while Independiente edge Clásico de Avellaneda
Banfield are heavily missing Dario Cvitanich’s presence up front and were defeated in front of their home-fans on Friday. Defensa y Justicia just edged them in Florencio Varela in a narrow 0-1 victory. Banfield probably deserved more from this game but their issues up front continued as they couldn’t find the net despite having more and better chances. Huracan were in relegation trouble coming into this season but their superb start have lifted them outside the relegation zone. El Globo kept their form up as they beat Chacarita 2-0 away from home. Another impressive victory for Huracan who now sit in 4th in the Superliga table. Chacarita on the other hand are in deep trouble. They’ve only picked up 6 points now from their first 10 games and are bottom of the average point table, the table that decides which team gets relegated.
Colon completed a second-half comeback to secure a 3-1 victory over Tigre. The Santa Fe-side were 1-0 down at halftime but kept their unbeaten season alive with an impressive comeback. Diego Vera was Man Of The Match as he contributed to two of the three goals. Belgrano secured a late victory over Gimnasia La Plata. Another clean sheet in their 2-0 victory created a new club record: Belgrano haven’t conceded a goal at home in their first 5 Superliga games! A bright start to the season for El Pirate as they’ve only lost twice in their first 10 games. Union edged Patronato in a high-scoring affair as they beat the hosts 2-3. Franco Soldano was on the scoresheet again and showed once again why River Plate are interested in the 23 year-old striker. San Lorenzo climbed up to second place with a 1-0 win over Argentinos Jrs. An early goal from Blandi proved to be enough for El Ciclon. Estudiantes won with the same scoreline but faced Atletico Tucuman at home. However, it wasn’t an early goal that separated both sides. Juan Cejas got subbed on in the 77th minute and scored the game-winner 10 minutes later. A welcome victory for Estudiantes as their start to the Superliga was a bit underwhelming. They now occupy the 14th position.
It was time for the Clásico de Avellaneda this weekend as Racing Club hosted their neighbours Independiente. It’s an extremely heated rivalry with the stadiums being less than a KM apart from each other. Independiente rotated their side heavily despite the heated rivalry. They played Libertad in midweek in the Semi Final of the Copa Sudamericana and disappointingly lost 1-0. They will now have to turn their deficit around in front of their home fans in midweek and therefore rested their squad. However, El Rojo took a surprise lead in the 30th minute via Leandro Fernandez. He capitalised on a mistake, ran all the way towards the goal and finished it off with a low finish. Independiente were a man down 5 minutes later as Rodrigo Moreira got himself send off after receiving two yellows in quick succession. Independiente managed to hold on to their 0-1 lead despite being a man down and clinched the Clásico de Avellaneda. An extremely disappointing result for Racing Club, who are all the way down in 18th position.
Boca Juniors were looking to return to winning ways after their 1-2 loss to Racing Club last weekend out. They faced a resurrected Rosario Central side on Monday and it proved to be a tough one. Walter Bou, Benedetto’s replacement, got injured himself too leaving Boca with little options up front. Oscar Benitez started up front but didn’t leave a great impression and eventually got substituted off the pitch. Boca were trailing early on as Marco Ruben put Central up from a corner. Boca were unable to break Central’s defence down and therefore lost their second game in a row. Their gap is only 3 points with San Lorenzo now, opposed to the 7 before. Rosario Central are on the rise on the other hand. They’ve won two games in a row since Paolo Montero’s sacking and are slowly climbing up the table again.
Newell’s piled on River’s misery this season as they beat them 1-3 in the Monumental. River took the lead in the 64th minute via Pity Martinez but completely capitulated after their opener. Luis Leal levelled the score up, Brian Sarmiento converted a penalty in the 80th minute and Hector Fertoli secured Newell’s victory 5 minutes later. River were still in a chance of winning the treble a couple of weeks ago but have just got the Copa Argentina left now. The question is if their manager Marcelo Gallardo will stay in charge much longer. A negative result in the cup final may be the end of his time in charge of Los Millonarios.
Velez have stated that they want Marcelo Bielsa as their new manager but it’s not clear if El Loco wants to return to his native country. Velez showed that they may not need him as they brushed Olimpo aside in a 3-0 victory. Of course, a manager of Bielsa’s quality will always be welcome in Liniers but they showed improvement over the weekend. They’ll need to be wary though, they are only just above the relegation zone and a dip in form could cause some big issues for them. Talleres just edged Arsenal in a narrow 0-1 victory and Temperley got back to winning ways in front of their home fans. They narrowly beat San Martin 1-0 but still find themselves in the relegation zone.
There’s still one game missing in Round 10: Godoy Cruz x Lanus. It is postponed due to Lanus’ upcoming Copa Libertadores final against Gremio. They lost the away fixture 1-0 in Brazil and will be eager to turn their deficit around. Will we see an Argentine champion?