Boca Juniors vs Atlético Rafaela Match Report
Boca Juniors extended their lead atop the Apertura championship after defeating Atletico Rafaela 3-1 at the Bombonera stadium on Sunday. By beating their closest rivals, Boca now have a nine-point advantage at the top of the table.
Rafaela, who only returned to the Argentine top-flight this season, started strongly and could have taken the lead inside the first three minutes, with two clear-cut opportunities that were not taken advantage of by Walter Serrano and Federico Gonzalez.
The visitors were made to pay for their lack of finishing, when in the 6th minute Boca went ahead when Nicolas Blandi beat Guillermo Sara with a clinical finish. Ten minutes later Blandi was at it again, this time meeting a good ball from Cristian Chavez before firing a low shot past Sara. Blandi had scored both of Boca's goals against Argentinos last week.
From then on it was all one-way traffic, as Boca completely dominated their opponents, and looked extremely dangerous each time they moved to the attack.
Four minutes from full-time, Chavez was sent through by Clemente Rodriguez and he blasted the ball home with his left boot to seal Boca a much-deserved victory that practically assures them of the title.
On the stroke of full-time, when it seemed that the match was more than finished, Alexis Nicolas Castro scored a consolation goal for Rafaela.