Since we’ve got a bit to catch up on following the UK’s May Day bank holiday, this post will contain the normal match review and the full rundown of scores and scorers. I’ll keep the goals separate to avoid confusion.
The weekend’s big story was the ever louder cry from the stands for Daniel Passarella’s resignation (or sacking) as River Plate manager. River fought out a dire 1-1 draw against struggling Independiente in El Monumental on Sunday, and the disaffection with the current manager gains pace still further. River President José María Aguilar said on Monday that Passarella’s contract, which runs until 2009, would be respected. So no trophies for a couple more years, then.
There were also violent incidents, in which two people were injured, one seriously, both outside the stadium when the match finished, which has raised the possibility of another stadium ban. For the second time this year, the clash was between two rival factions of River’s barra brava, Los Borrachos del Tablón.
The draw meant that River had failed to take advantage of leaders San Lorenzo slipping up, after they lost to Vélez. Boca couldn’t make it tell either, fighting out an epic 3-3 draw away to Argentinos Juniors. As a result Estudiantes, who won 2-1 away to Chicago on Friday night, were the only one of the top four to gain anything from the weekend. Oscar Cardozo was the hero yet again for Newell’s as they won the Rosario derby 1-0 at home to Central, and in the weekend’s first match, Arsenal beat Belgrano by the odd goal in seven.
Scores and scorers:
Arsenal de Sarandí (M. Obolo 22; C. Ruiz 25; S. Raymonda 42; J. Yacuzzi 75) 4 – 3 Belgrano de Córdoba (A. Ríos 7; M. Oyola 37; F. Peppino 88)
Nueva Chicago (L. Filomeno 79) 1 – 2 Estudiantes de La Plata (P. Lugüercio 20, 25)
Quilmes (C. Luna 57; P. Batalla 82) 2 – 1 Colón de Santa Fé (J. Sand 72; R. Ramírez OFF 78)
Racing Club (G. Cabral 17) 1 – 1 Banfield (C. Lucchetti 31)
Vélez Sarsfield (G. Balvorín 60; M. Zárate 68) 2 – 1 San Lorenzo de Almagro (C. Tula 72)
Newell’s Old Boys (O. Cardozo 68) 1 – 0 Rosario Central
Lanús (D. Lagos 90+3) 1 – 1 Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy (M. Quinteros 62)
Godoy Cruz de Mendoza (E. Pérez 32; J. Herbella 38) 2 – 1 Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (S. Silva 36)
River Plate (A. Fernández 18, OFF 78) 1 – 1 Independiente (G. Machín 51; G. Rodríguez OFF 84)
Argentinos Juniors (C. González 19, 73; L. Núñez 25) 3 – 3 Boca Juniors (N. Cardozo 31; M. Palermo 58; H. Ibarra 65)
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I watched the River game. It looked an awful lot like the Libertadores games from the last couple of months: lots of possession, lots of aimless dribbling into trouble, spurned chances, and a sucker punch at the other end.
This was all the more disappointing as Ustari is still not playing for Independiente, and his replacement literally looks 13. He also has the best name in all of professional football: Assman.