Sunday evening brought the first domestic action in the Primera División in 2013, although it wasn’t the beginning of the Torneo Final, but rather was mopping up some leftovers. Independiente v Tigre in the twelfth round of the 2012 Torneo Inicial was called off due to torrential rain causing floods in Avellaneda, and due to Tigre’s involvement in the Copa Sudamericana it could only be played now. The result was a lively 1-1 draw, with Tigre starlet Rubén Botta showing typical sleight of foot in the penalty area to give his side a half time lead, and Martín Benítez equalising for El Rojo in the second half after a good run by returning Independiente hero Daniel Montenegro. You can see those goals right here.
The point doesn’t do much for Tigre’s poor Torneo Inicial standing – they’ve got just 12 now, although with one last game from 2012 still to play, since their last round game against Quilmes was also postponed, to allow them to prepare for the second leg of the Copa Sudamericana. It’s a worse result for Independiente, though, who remain in the relegation zone of the points-average table, a full ten points adrift of San Lorenzo, the next team up with three seasons on the board. Independiente boss Américo Gallego insisted after the game though that, ‘playing like that, we’ll win plenty of matches.’ If ‘that’ refers to the second half performance, he may well be right – and he’s going to have to be if one of the country’s biggest clubs are to stay in the top flight this year.
Hasta El Gol Siempre 