The triumphs of River and Racing this Sunday they had put pressure on Boca, which received Hurricane at the Bombonera this Monday, for the 20th date of the Professional Soccer League. Hugo Ibarra’s team needed to win to stay at the top of the championship, but he barely tied goalless against the Globe, he played poorly and did not even manage to generate clear chances. He equaled the Gymnastics line with 36 points, but the equality had the flavor of defeat due to the performance and the result.
The one who returned to the top of the tournament is Atlético Tucumán. After four games without success, the Dean reappeared at the right time and defeated Argentinos Juniors 2-1 at La Paternal. Cristian Menéndez -later expelled- made the difference with a brace; Milito’s team, almost on the sidelines of the title fight, discounted at the end through Zalazar.
Now without Sebastián Beccacece on the bench, Defense and Justice took another step in their recovery and beat Estudiantes 2-1 as a visitor; a result that allows Halcón to return to the qualifying zone for next year’s Copa Sudamericana. Adonis Frías and Andrés Ríos scored the goals for Florencio Varela’s team.
Independiente achieved their fourth consecutive victory: they beat Unión, in Santa Fe, by 1-0, with a goal from Lucas Romero, with a right cross. Julio César Falcioni’s team had just beaten Aldosivi and Sarmiento, for the Professional League, and Vélez, for the Argentine Cup. The Tatengue confirmed its weak present, but the Red found a reality unthinkable until recently. And it keeps going up.
This Monday, in the first shift, Arsenal beat Aldosivi 3-0 in Sarandí and achieved a key victory in the fight for permanence. William Machado, Sebastián Lomónaco (penalty) and Facundo Kruspzky converted for the Viaduct team, It ended a seven game winless streak. Those led by Leonardo Madelón reached 23 points and remain outside the relegation zone (1,125) above Central Córdoba de Santiago del Estero (1,117), Aldosivi (1,031) and Patronato (1,021). El Tiburón, who suffered the expulsion of Emanuel Iñíguez at the end of the first half, is last with 13 points and accumulated the fourth consecutive loss.
River needed to return to victory, since it came from two consecutive defeats against Boca, in the superclásico, and Banfield, in the Monumental, where it fell 2-1 and exposed the defensive shortcomings of the red band team. San Lorenzo also needed a positive result since, although they are having an acceptable campaign with Ruben Insua, they were coming off four consecutive draws. In the New Gasometer they won 1-0 with a right hand from Emanuel Mammana. El Millonario finished with ten footballers due to the expulsion of Marcelo Herrera and towards the end they canceled a goal by Nicolás Blandi for off-side.
With a goal from Maximiliano Romero 14 minutes into the second half, Racing beat Platense as a visitor 1-0 and climbed positions, remaining two points behind the Gimnasia leader. The Academy ended the game with ten players due to the expulsion of left back Eugenio Mena. At the end of the game, a surprise: goalkeeper Gabriel Arias was also sent offfor making obscene gestures at the Calamar fans.
With the presence of Néstor Gorosito, Gymnastics DT, in the audience, Tiger beat Fortín 2-0 with goals from Blas Armoa and Facundo Colidio. The difference could even have been greater, since a free kick by Alexis Castro hit the crossbar and Vélez finished with ten players due to the expulsion of Emanuel Insúa, 9 minutes into the second half due to a double warning. Alexander Medina, despite Fortín’s very bad campaign in the Professional League, said that he has the strength to continue.
Barracas Central beat Godoy Cruz 3-1, at the Claudio Chiqui Tapia stadium. The outstanding fact was that El Guapo confirmed that he is strong in his stadium since he has won the four games he has played since his return, after having played at home on the fields of Huracán, Arsenal and All Boys. The figure of the match was again left-handed Fernando Valenzuela, as in recent matches, since from his movements and shots came the best actions of Rodolfo De Paoli’s team.
This is how the next date will be played
Argentina has six places for the Copa Libertadores in 2023. Boca obtained the first ticket by winning the Professional League Cup. The champion of the current League will access directly. The same will be achieved by the Argentine Cup. The remaining places will go to the top three clubs in the annual general table, which includes the points obtained in the group stage of the LPF Cup (13 games) and the League (total: 40 games). The third of those teams will go to the Libertadores playoff.
Meanwhile, the South American 2023 will play another six teams, which will emerge from the general table and will be the ones located after those classified for the Copa Libertadores. If a club already classified by another instance is repeated, the place will go to the next in that table.