The champions stumbled again, Arsenal won their second match in a row whilst Racing and Lanús both hit four and claimed three points. Boca, having gone nearly a year and a half without a home defeat until recently, have now lost twice in two weeks in La Bombonera, after Estudiantes did their lingering title hopes some more damage. And there were more fireworks in El Coloso as Newell’s got a vital win over title contenders Tigre. All the heroes and villains are here as always…
Primera División A Torneo Apertura 2008, ninth round:
Racing Club (F. Zuculini 20; M. Moralez 30, 75; P. Lugüercio 40) 4 – 1 Rosario Central (C. ‘Kily’ González 45; J. Broun OFF 28; G. Núñez OFF 90)
San Martín de Tucumán 0 – 1 Banfield (C. Lucchetti 62)
Vélez Sársfield (V. Zapata OFF 90+1) 0 – 1 San Lorenzo de Almagro (B. Romeo 87)
Lanús (E. Salvio 8, 30; J. Sand 28, 85) 4 – 2 Argentinos Juniors (N. Pavlovich 22, 36)
Newell’s Old Boys (D. Torres 27; L. Vangioni 44) 2 – 0 Tigre
Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy (G. Loeschbor 10; J. Arraya 73; H. Desvaux OFF 82) 2 – 1 Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba (V. Figueroa 55)
Huracán (L. Díaz 73) 1 – 0 Independiente
Boca Juniors (L. Viatri 32) 1 – 2 Estudiantes de La Plata (D. Galván 62; L. Benítez 66)
Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata 0 – 0 River Plate
Arsenal Fútbol Club (J. Mosquera 25; J. Yacuzzi 60; A. Gómez 86) 3 – 2 Colón de Santa Fe (R. Ramírez 69; E. Fuertes 89)
As ever, for the goal videos, check back on Monday night. The league and Promedio tables will also be updated then.
Hasta El Gol Siempre 
When was the last time Boca lost three league games in a row?
Hi Sam,
I’ve just got news on the six remaining players that will make our squad for the upcoming WC qualifier. You may check it on my blog.
I’ve got to admit that you have greater knwoledge on the domestic scene. Would appreciate some feedback from you on those players (minus Riquelme of course!).
I’m very keen on the four San Larenzo players especially.
I don’t remember when Boca lost three straight. But they are really struggling now with loads of problems. No Palermo. Palacio can’t seem to recover form this groin problem and didn’t look like himself yesterday. WonderBoy Noir has failed to deliver consistently. Riquelme is in a bad place. Caranta reportedly asked out yesterday because he had not been satisfied with his performance recently in goal. Strange that. Ibarra is injured again. Morel Rodriguez is out for the moment. Ischi went with a different defensive formation yesterday as he has little confidence in Boca’s backup fullbacks. All in all, not a pretty picture.
The only positive as I see it has been the play of Nico Gaitan.
I’m not sure if this counts as losing 3 league games in a row, but Boca famously threw away the 06 Apertura by losing the last two games to Belgrano and Argentinos, then lost the extra game to Estudiantes.
Great point Justin. I kind of have a hazy memory of that, because I had to go on a trip with work just before Christmas 2006, and lost touch with what was happening in the league, but I didn’t think it would matter as Boca had the title sewn up.
On my return, I clicked on Ole to catch-up on pictures of Boca’s title, and it was full of stories about the upcoming game with Estudiantes… ‘what upcoming game??!!’
I wanted Boca to win that day, as being a Racing fan and GELP sympathiser, I really didn’t want Estudiantes to be champions… Simeone being coach was making it worse. Barros Schelotto did a great job of winding up the Estudiantes fans as ever, but Pincharratas came back to win : (
Days later, I found a video on Youtube of a GELP fan turning up for work the next day, to find his desk draped in Estudiantes memorabilia and his chair wrapped in red and white paper by his workmates… he went ballistic, ripping it all off like a mad man!
I was expecting an answer like 1996 or something, when you had ageing players like Nestor Fabbri making horrendous mistakes against sides like Ferro and Platense.