Hasta El Gol Siempre

After the week Huracán have had - losing their unbeaten record last weekend in La Bombonera, followed by the loss of their manager on Tuesday - it wasn’t too surprising that they couldn’t lift themselves in front of a home crowd, even in front of their new manager Ossie Ardiles. Gimnasia took advantage of the situation to record their third straight win.

It’s a pleasant change for the visitors, that statistic, after the season they had last term. Having qualified for the 2007 Libertadores by virtue of finishing second in the Apertura of two years ago, they were pitiful in 2006-2007, their chairman’s actions were one of the first sparks for the violence that plagued the season, and Estudiantes’ 2006 Apertura title just rubbed it all in even more.

The midfield duo of Matías Escobar and Mauricio Yedro dominated Huracán in the first half, and it was Escobar who claimed the game’s only goal ten minutes in, the ball bouncing in off his knee after a corner had been headed down in the box. Thereafter Gimnasia were happy to sit back and allow the hosts to come at them, but whilst Huracán’s approach play was nice enough, it lacked any real bite before the break, and after things didn’t improve too much.

So in came Ardiles, making three changes which, as it turned out, didn’t make any difference to the outcome at all. The Argentine press have made a point of reminding us that Ossie has spent such a long time in London that, apparently by his own admission, he now thinks in English. Huracán will be hoping it isn’t too long before he begins to repeat the ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!‘ that accompanied the goals scored under his tutelage of Racing a few years back. Gimnasia, with 9 points from twelve under new manager Julio Falcioni, will just be hoping for a continuation of that form.