The penultimate weekend of the championship is over, and the title has been decided, along with many of the places for the Copas and some of the relegation issues. San Lorenzo are the big headline makers, beating Arsenal 4-2 to claim the championship. There was controversy in Saturday’s clash between River and Chicago after River were awarded a non-existent penalty five minutes into stoppage time, subsequently scored, which meant they qualified for next year’s Libertadores whilst Chicago’s automatic relegation is still a possibility (had they won, Belgrano would have been unable to overtake them next weekend). Independiente thrashed Quilmes, goalkeeper Oscar Ustari scoring the first goal of his career from the penalty spot, and in all there were 27 goals. Read on for the scores, scorers, and promotion / qualification issues which are already sorted.
Scores and scorers:
Vélez Sarsfield (G. Balvorín 16) 1 - 1 Lanús (S. Biglieri 90+1)
Nueva Chicago (F. Higuaín 31; F. Lussenhoff OG 66) 2 - 2 River Plate (E. Farías 79; V. Zapata 90+5)
Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (R. Alderete 88) 1 - 2 Racing Club (F. Sava 25; G. Bergessio 89)
Boca Juniors (B. Marioni 10) 1 - 0 Belgrano de Córdoba
Rosario Central (T. Costa 16; A. Di María 77) 2 - 0 Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy
Banfield 0 -1 Colón de Santa Fé (E. Centurión 38)
Godoy Cruz de Mendoza (E. Pérez 79) 1 - 1 Newell’s Old Boys (O. Cardozo 61; G. Aguirre OFF 72)
Independiente (D. Montenegro 1; I. Sosa 41; O. Ustari 43; G. Denis 49) 4 - 1 Quilmes (C. Luna 86; D. Musto OFF 27)
San Lorenzo de Almagro (C. Tula 6; E. Lavezzi 17; G. Fernández 46, 50) 4 - 2 Arsenal de Sarandí (M. Obolo 27, 30)
Estudiantes de La Plata (L. Benítez 14) 1 - 0 Argentinos Juniors (P. De Muner OFF 62)
Already decided:
Champions - San Lorenzo de Almagro
Also going to the Copa Libertadores - Estudiantes de La Plata (Apertura winners); Boca Juniors; River Plate
Going to the Copa Sudamericana - San Lorenzo (Clausura winners); Estudiantes (Apertura winners); Boca (invited); River (invited); Arsenal de Sarandí. Following Sebastián Biglieri’s stoppage-time equaliser today, Lanús are two points clear of Vélez going into the final weekend, with one qualification spot up for grabs.
Relegation - Make yourself comfortable: Quilmes are down already. Godoy Cruz are definitely going to play off against a team from Nacional B (they can’t drop into the remaining automatic relegation spot, but can’t climb to total safety either). If Nueva Chicago get a win next week away to Newell’s, or if Belgrano fail to beat Banfield at home, Chicago will be in the playoff and Belgrano will go straight down. Should Chicago draw and Belgrano win, they’ll be level on points average and a playoff will be needed to decide who… erm… goes to the playoff (yes, yes I know) against another Nacional B side, and who goes straight down.
So in simple terms, next weekend the meaningful matches will be Newell’s vs. Chicago, River vs. Vélez, Lanús vs. Boca, and Belgrano vs. Banfield.
Filed under: Argentine football, Argentine league, Argentinos Juniors, Arsenal de Sarandí, Banfield, Belgrano de Córdoba, Boca Juniors, Colón de Santa Fé, Continental football, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Descenso, Domestic, Estudiantes, Fixtures, Football, Football clubs, Gimnasia, Gimnasia Jujuy, Godoy Cruz, Independiente, Lanús, Newell's Old Boys, Nueva Chicago, Quilmes, Racing Club, Results, River Plate, Rosario Central, San Lorenzo, Vélez Sarsfield
