Friday evening saw plenty of action packed into just two matches in the 2013 Torneo Final. In fact, it was more like one-and-a-half matches, because the first half of Quilmes v Atlético Rafaela was deadly dull. In the second, there were six goals, and the game ended 3-3. Afterwards, Newell’s Old Boys hosted Belgrano and goals from Ignacio Scocco and – right at the death – Maxi Urruti gave them a 2-0 win, though not before Gastón Turus, the visiting defender, had received a cut below the eye after a local policeman hit him in the face with his baton. Videos of all the goals – and that police aggression – are right here.
Quilmes 3 – 3 Rafaela
After a boring first half, the blue touchpaper was lit just a couple of minutes into the second as Rafaela took the lead through Juan Eluchans from point blank range, before Germán Rodríguez Rojas doubled the advantage from range. Two minutes after Rodríguez Rojas’ goal, Quilmes had one back via a Cristian Menéndez header, but with seventeen minutes left Eduardo Domínguez looked to have wrapped it up for Rafaela, making it 3-1 from a corner. Quilmes had other intentions, though. Martín Cauteruccio made it 2-3 less than a minute later, and an own goal from Fabricio Fontanini gave Quilmes a deserved point with five minutes left.
Newell’s 2 – 0 Belgrano
Ignacio Scocco headed Newell’s into the lead, putting the finishing touch on a nice move 28 minutes in. Newell’s had the better of the game thereafter, but it took until almost the very end, after a bout of crowd trouble (see below) before Maxi Urruti could confirm the win in stoppage time.
Minutes before that second goal, police and Belgrano fans clashed and as the visiting side’s players tried to calm the situation, Gastón Turus was struck in the face by a police baton. It’s easy to miss in this clip, but watch Turus (number 25) from around the 50 second mark – he’s hit on 55 seconds.
Hasta El Gol Siempre 