Racing got an away win which will help them immeasurably in the relegation battle; Estudiantes edged out Independiente; both Rosario clubs lost on Friday night, and River were involved in a good match in which it wasn’t them who did the throwing away of a good lead, for a change. At the top, San Lorenzo and Boca both won, whilst Tigre stumbled slightly and are now two points back on the joint leaders. All the details right here.
Primera División A Torneo Apertura 2008, fourteenth round:
Rosario Central (M. Paglialunga 38) 1 – 2 Lanús (D. Lagos 50; J. Sand 73)
Banfield (C. García 4; M. Bustamante 38) 2 – 1 Newell’s Old Boys (C. Fabbiani 21)
Colón de Santa Fe (E. Fuertes 7; R. Ramírez 90+3; P. Aguilar OFF 50) 2 – 2 Tigre (R. Arruabarrena 31; M. Morel 79)
Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba (L. Caruso 59) 1 – 1 Argentinos Juniors (F. Quiroga 54; I. Canuto OFF 90+4)
Vélez Sársfield 0 – 2 Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (R. Sosa 53; F. Niell 17)
Estudiantes de La Plata (M. Boselli 22) 1 – 0 Independiente
San Lorenzo de Almagro (A. Torres 46; G. Bergessio 83) 2 – 1 Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy (P. Calandria 73)
Arsenal Fútbol Club 0 – 1 Boca Juniors (J. R. Riquelme 90)
San Martín de Tucumán 0 – 2 Racing Club (J. L. Fernández 1; F. Peppino 30)
River Plate (M. Abelairas 50; R. Falcao García 68; E. Tuzzio 76) 3 – 3 Huracán (H. Barcos 4, 31; H. Barrientos 34)
As usual, check back on Monday evening for the goal video.
The league tables page has just been updated and, from this week, I’ll be attempting to keep track of the current qualifying system for the 2009 Copa Libertadores as well. This is run through a separate table (similar to the Promedio but using only the last three short championships including the current one), and as far as I can find, there’s no other site which actually carries the table for it. I cannot therefore guarantee that it’ll be 100% free from error (or rather, any errors that are on that one are entirely my own fault, as opposed to the other two tables which I copy down off other sites), but hopefully it’ll make HEGS just that tiny bit more useful for those of you who, like me, are really hoping Tigre can make it into the Copa this term. You can see it, along with the Apertura table and the relegation Promedio, on the ‘Tables’ page.
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Three small words to sum up this moment in the campeonato: Roman is God.
Roman seems to be finding the free kick magic again. He has struggled with that for awhile. It couldn’t come at a better time.
Hey, how about that “clothesline” on my boy Gaitan that wasn’t called. I expected to see his head rolling on the pitch. No foul !!
And, an opinion I have had for a long time-is Alejandro Gomez the worst (best) diver in Argentina ?! Or what ? Shameless.
RACING FOR THE TITLE! Je je je: -)
Well, why not? We’re only nine points off the top, Boca and Newell’s still to play, in good form, Llop could pull off the most amazing feat in Argentine football history!
The top three really don’t convince me, I think they will continue to drop points. That Boca match was dreadful, no way did they look like champions, other than the brilliant free kick. San Lorenzo are good going forward, but are too easily caught out at the back. And Tigre are nice to watch, but nerves could finish them again like last year. (And you can’t let a striker like Ruben Ramirez get away with anything, as Tigre did this weekend).
At their best, Lanus are the most attractive side in the whole league, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them win it. And if Newell’s could add some away form to their brilliant home record, they will be a serious contender. But why not Racing? I will continue to dream until it’s mathematically impossible, and I’m hoping the Racing crowd feel the same way and carry the side on a wave of enthusiasm in the next two home games, to pick up momentum to face Boca, who are not invincible in La Bombonera anymore.
I picked out Perez as the dangerman before this week’s game, luckily he didn’t have the influence I thought he was going to have, apart from winning SM their penalty. Next week, I’ll be watching out for Ramirez, a great taker of chances… but I’m confident Racing can win.