Saturday’s top flight football action in Argentina was restricted to just two matches, since the bulk of the games will be played on Sunday and Monday for the ninth round of the Torneo Apertura. Olimpo held Arsenal de Sarandí 2-2 in Bahía Blanca, with two quickfire second half goals from Martín Rolle key after they’d fallen behind 2-0 just after the break. Later, two of the promoted teams clashed, and San Martín shocked Atlético Rafaela, winning 2-1; the sanjuaninos had started the season considerably more poorly than Rafaela. In between those matches was River Plate’s seventh match in the Nacional B. River returned to winning ways after three straight draws, beating Gimnasia La Plata 2-0 to go back to the top, at least until Gimnasia de Jujuy play – their match against Chacarita Juniors has been postponed. All the goals from the two Primera games and River’s match are right here.
Primera División Torneo Apertura 2011, ninth round
Olimpo 2 – 2 Arsenal
Arsenal took the lead with two fantastic goals, one from centre back Lisandro López in the first half, and one from forward Emilio Zelaya right after the interval. Rolle, however, turned the game on its head with two emphatic finishes of his own in a short period. You really want to watch this video, trust me – López’s opener is just ridiculous.
San Martín 2 – 1 Atlético Rafaela
Darío Gandín scored early for Rafaela, and it looked like it was going to be another win for the Crema, but San Martín unexpectedly turned the match around in the second half. Lucas Landa equalised not long after the break, and Raúl Saavedra won the match from long range with six minutes to go, giving San Martín only their second win of the season – one which never the less moves them up to midtable.
Nacional B 2011-12, seventh round
River Plate 2 – 0 Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata
River won again after a few rounds of draws, and had more than just their goalscorers to thank; Leandro Chichizola, the young goalkeeper who was one of the most put-upon members of the team earlier in the year when his two howlers against Vélez Sarsfield arguably started the dreadful run of form that saw River relegated, saved a penalty right at the start of the match. Rogelio Funes Mori missed a clear chance in the first half, but scored in the second, before Juan Manuel Díaz made sure of the three points with a header from a Chori Domínguez free kick.
You can follow the latest news from the selección and Argentina’s foreign legion of players, as well as the domestic championship, River Plate’s first second division campaign in over a century and the ever entertaining/tragic/infuriating capers of Julio Grondona & chums direct from Buenos Aires with HEGS on Twitter. If you’ve not signed up yet you can do so here. You can also join the official HEGS Facebook group, to keep up to date with the latest posts on the blog and discuss things with other fans. You’ll find it here. And remember to bookmark Hand Of Pod, our Argentine football podcast, or if you prefer you can subscribe to it on iTunes here.
Hasta El Gol Siempre 