Boca Juniors increase lead in Argentina to six points after beating Colon de Santa Fe.
Boca Juniors, Argentina's most widely supported club, further consolidated their lead atop the Apertura championship after beating Colon de Santa Fe. Boca find themselves six points ahead of their closest rivals, Atletico Rafaela, who they face in a clash that could practically decide the title next week.
Meanwhile, Rafaela cruised to an easy win over Argentinos Juniors and Velez Sarsfield remain in touching distance of the top two, after beating Estudiantes de La Plata. At this point it seems that the only two teams that have any chances of catching Boca are Rafaela and Velez.
Banfield thrashed Independiente 3-0 at the Florencio Sola stadium on Monday, a result that saw the side escape from the bottom of the table. The result also complicated Independiente's passage towards the 2012 Copa Libertadores, South America's premier club competition.
Right from the beginning, Banfield took the initiative in the midfield and created several goal-scoring opportunities, although they were quite imprecise when it came to finishing. Despite the dismissal of Independiente's Julian Velazquez in the 30th minute, Banfield couldn't make the most of the advantage.
However, the situation changed for Ricardo La Volpe's side in the second half, when in the 53rd minute Facundo Ferreyra broke the deadlock for Banfield when he beat Fabian Assman with a simple finish after being sent through on goal by Jonathan Gomez. Four minutes later Ferreyra was at it again, adding Banfield's second with another straight-forward finish.
Independiente, who lacked authority in their game, came closest to scoring with a Ivan Perez drive that hit the crossbar. Right before the final whistle Walter Acevedo sealed the rout for Banfield with a fabulous long-range thunderbolt.
In a tense encounter that contained few goal-scoring opportunities, Arsenal de Sarandi scraped a 1-0 win over San Lorenzo, which puts the losers in a difficult situation considering they are only one spot above the relegation zone.
Adrian Gonzalez, formerly of San Lorenzo, handed Arsenal the victory with a goal in the 74th minute. Arsenal, who last week sealed qualification to next year's Copa Libertadores, climbed above San Lorenzo into 11th position of the table with 16 points.
San Lorenzo played slightly better than their opponents in the first half, but they wasted three good opportunities to go ahead, with Uruguayan striker Juan Manuel Salgueiro being most at fault.
After the break Arsenal brightened up a touch, and commenced to play their normal game, as they looked to break the deadlock. After much pressure, their winner finally arrived in the 74th minute when Gonzalez connected to a left-sided cross with a spectacular half-volley.
Argentine Clausura champions Velez Sarsfield leaped into third-place after edging Estudiantes de La Plata 1-0 at the Jose Amalfitani stadium on Tuesday.
Velez held onto their 6th minute goal from David Ramirez to claim three crucial points that keep them in the running to fight for the championship. With 20 points from twelve matches, Velez find themselves two points behind Atletico Rafaela and eight behind Boca.
Ricardo Gareca's side dominated their opponents for much of the game, and would have doubled their lead on a couple of occasions if it wasn't for the heroics of Estudiantes goalkeeper Damian Albil.
In the second period Estudiantes picked up their game as they went looking for the equaliser. They came closest to scoring through Mariano Gonzalez, when his fierce crossed shot was pushed out for a corner-kick by Velez goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero. The Velez goalkeeper also kept out a good effort from Mauro Boselli late on.
Despite a slow start to their campaign, which seemed much to do with the transfers of key players Santiago Silva, Maximiliano Moralez and Ricky Alvarez, all to Italy's Serie A, Velez have been in fine form not only in the league but also in the Copa Sudamericana, having advanced to the quarter-finals of the competition last week.
Nicolas Blandi scored a goal in each half to give Boca Juniors a comfortable 2-0 victory over Colon de Santa Fe at the Brigadier General Estanislao Lopez on Tuesday. The result allowed Boca to increase their lead in the Apertura championship to six points with only seven rounds remaining this season.
Boca, who were without playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme for the match, went ahead in the 15th minute when Blandi connected to an inch-perfect Cristian Chavez cross with a fine header.
Colon could barely create a decent goal-scoring opportunity, and when they did they failed to make the most of it. Right before half-time Colon captain Esteban Fuertes seemed to have been brought down in the area, but the referee waved play-on, to the frustration of the home fans.
After the break Boca continued to dominate and they looked very strong each time they moved forward. Chavez almost doubled their lead when his drive from outside of the area hit the right post.
Boca played attractive soccer in the midfield, and it seemed that at any moment they would add their second goal. It finally arrived in the 63rd minute when Pablo Mouche raced across the field, beating several defenders along the way, before sending an inch-perfect right-wing cross into the area, for an unmarked Blandi to head home.
Argentine Apertura Championship - Round 12 Results
October 24
Olimpo 0 - 1 Union
All Boys 1 - 1 Newell's Old Boys
Banfield 3 - 0 Independiente
October 25
Arsenal 1 - 0 San Lorenzo
Velez Sarsfield 1 - 0 Estudiantes
Atl. Rafaela 3 - 1 Argentinos Juniors
Colon 0 - 2 Boca Juniors
October 26
Tigre vs Belgrano
Godoy Cruz vs San Martin
Racing Club vs Lanus
Meanwhile, Rafaela cruised to an easy win over Argentinos Juniors and Velez Sarsfield remain in touching distance of the top two, after beating Estudiantes de La Plata. At this point it seems that the only two teams that have any chances of catching Boca are Rafaela and Velez.
Banfield thrashed Independiente 3-0 at the Florencio Sola stadium on Monday, a result that saw the side escape from the bottom of the table. The result also complicated Independiente's passage towards the 2012 Copa Libertadores, South America's premier club competition.
Right from the beginning, Banfield took the initiative in the midfield and created several goal-scoring opportunities, although they were quite imprecise when it came to finishing. Despite the dismissal of Independiente's Julian Velazquez in the 30th minute, Banfield couldn't make the most of the advantage.
However, the situation changed for Ricardo La Volpe's side in the second half, when in the 53rd minute Facundo Ferreyra broke the deadlock for Banfield when he beat Fabian Assman with a simple finish after being sent through on goal by Jonathan Gomez. Four minutes later Ferreyra was at it again, adding Banfield's second with another straight-forward finish.
Independiente, who lacked authority in their game, came closest to scoring with a Ivan Perez drive that hit the crossbar. Right before the final whistle Walter Acevedo sealed the rout for Banfield with a fabulous long-range thunderbolt.
In a tense encounter that contained few goal-scoring opportunities, Arsenal de Sarandi scraped a 1-0 win over San Lorenzo, which puts the losers in a difficult situation considering they are only one spot above the relegation zone.
Adrian Gonzalez, formerly of San Lorenzo, handed Arsenal the victory with a goal in the 74th minute. Arsenal, who last week sealed qualification to next year's Copa Libertadores, climbed above San Lorenzo into 11th position of the table with 16 points.
San Lorenzo played slightly better than their opponents in the first half, but they wasted three good opportunities to go ahead, with Uruguayan striker Juan Manuel Salgueiro being most at fault.
After the break Arsenal brightened up a touch, and commenced to play their normal game, as they looked to break the deadlock. After much pressure, their winner finally arrived in the 74th minute when Gonzalez connected to a left-sided cross with a spectacular half-volley.
Argentine Clausura champions Velez Sarsfield leaped into third-place after edging Estudiantes de La Plata 1-0 at the Jose Amalfitani stadium on Tuesday.
Velez held onto their 6th minute goal from David Ramirez to claim three crucial points that keep them in the running to fight for the championship. With 20 points from twelve matches, Velez find themselves two points behind Atletico Rafaela and eight behind Boca.
Ricardo Gareca's side dominated their opponents for much of the game, and would have doubled their lead on a couple of occasions if it wasn't for the heroics of Estudiantes goalkeeper Damian Albil.
In the second period Estudiantes picked up their game as they went looking for the equaliser. They came closest to scoring through Mariano Gonzalez, when his fierce crossed shot was pushed out for a corner-kick by Velez goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero. The Velez goalkeeper also kept out a good effort from Mauro Boselli late on.
Despite a slow start to their campaign, which seemed much to do with the transfers of key players Santiago Silva, Maximiliano Moralez and Ricky Alvarez, all to Italy's Serie A, Velez have been in fine form not only in the league but also in the Copa Sudamericana, having advanced to the quarter-finals of the competition last week.
Nicolas Blandi scored a goal in each half to give Boca Juniors a comfortable 2-0 victory over Colon de Santa Fe at the Brigadier General Estanislao Lopez on Tuesday. The result allowed Boca to increase their lead in the Apertura championship to six points with only seven rounds remaining this season.
Boca, who were without playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme for the match, went ahead in the 15th minute when Blandi connected to an inch-perfect Cristian Chavez cross with a fine header.
Colon could barely create a decent goal-scoring opportunity, and when they did they failed to make the most of it. Right before half-time Colon captain Esteban Fuertes seemed to have been brought down in the area, but the referee waved play-on, to the frustration of the home fans.
After the break Boca continued to dominate and they looked very strong each time they moved forward. Chavez almost doubled their lead when his drive from outside of the area hit the right post.
Boca played attractive soccer in the midfield, and it seemed that at any moment they would add their second goal. It finally arrived in the 63rd minute when Pablo Mouche raced across the field, beating several defenders along the way, before sending an inch-perfect right-wing cross into the area, for an unmarked Blandi to head home.
Argentine Apertura Championship - Round 12 Results
October 24
Olimpo 0 - 1 Union
All Boys 1 - 1 Newell's Old Boys
Banfield 3 - 0 Independiente
October 25
Arsenal 1 - 0 San Lorenzo
Velez Sarsfield 1 - 0 Estudiantes
Atl. Rafaela 3 - 1 Argentinos Juniors
Colon 0 - 2 Boca Juniors
October 26
Tigre vs Belgrano
Godoy Cruz vs San Martin
Racing Club vs Lanus
