Sunday’s and Monday’s matches in the 2013 Torneo Final brought thirteen goals and plenty of developments at the business ends of both tables (league and relegation). On Sunday, Independiente and Boca Juniors met in the weekend’s second clásico, and drew a frantic match 1-1, a little fortunately for Boca. Next was the third derby of the weekend, the clásico cuyano (wine region derby) between San Martín of Syrah (shiraz)-producing San Juan, and Godoy Cruz of malbec Mecca Mendoza. Martín Palermo’s visitors kept up his great start to management, winning a thriller 3-2. Atlético Rafaela ended Unión’s three-game unbeaten run with a 1-0 victory, and Newell’s beat San Lorenzo 1-0 in Bajo Flores with a goal from ex Liverpool wide man Maxi Rodríguez, after which San Lorenzo goalkeeper Pablo Migliore was arrested for accessory to murder (I’m not making this up). On Monday night, Lanús and Quilmes played out a thoroughly entertaining game which ended 2-2. All the goals are right here.
Independiente 1 – 1 Boca Juniors
Independiente were by and large the better side here – the first team all year to have more possession than Boca – but they failed to pick up all the points thanks to the quite astonishingly wasteful finishing of Juan Caicedo, who still wouldn’t have scored yet if he was still running on the pitch with the ball all on his own. Independiente’s Daniel Montenegro had already had a penalty saved by Agustín Orión before Santiago Silva headed Boca in front against the run of play from a Juan Sánchez Miño cross, but during the second half left back Claudio Morel Rodríguez got tired of seeing his side’s forwards waste chance after chance, and slightly inexplicably popped up in the box himself to smash in the equaliser.
San Martín 2 – 3 Godoy Cruz
This was a brilliant, see-saw match. Godoy Cruz took the lead through Mauro Óbolo, but were pegged back ten minutes later by a Nicolás Sánchez own goal. San Martín then went in at the break with a 2-1 lead, thanks to a Damián Ledesma header. In the second half, though, the malbec-lovers (as absolutely no-one has ever called them) turned the game on its head with an equaliser from David Ramírez and a winner from Óbolo. Godoy’s fourth win of 2013 takes them third in the Torneo Final table.
Rafaela 1 – 0 Unión
Rafaela hadn’t won in five, and got an important win against relegation rivals Unión, who after a ten-month winless streak had recently gone three matches unbeaten. The only goal of the game was this scrappy effort from Diego Vera.
San Lorenzo 0 – 1 Newell’s Old Boys
Gerardo Martino’s Newell’s side visited Bajo Flores and took all the points thanks to a brilliant pass from Ignacio Scocco and a deft finish from Maxi Rodríguez ten minutes before the break. The win took Newell’s level on points with Lanús at the top of the Torneo Final overnight, pending Lanús’ game against Quilmes. After the match, San Lorenzo goalkeeper Pablo Migliore was arrested by police in connection with aiding and abetting a member of Boca Juniors’ barra brava who’s the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Migliore will be held in a state prison for the next couple of weeks.
Lanús 2 – 2 Quilmes
Lanús reclaimed their outright lead at the top the following evening, though they had to settle for having had it severely trimmed, from three points down to one, thanks to a superb performance by Quilmes, who raced into an early lead through Gustavo Oberman and, even though they had Jacobo Mansilla sent off half an hour in, doubled their cushion six minutes into the second half with a brilliant solo goal from young star Fernando Elizari (who’s a cousin of the Milito brothers). Lanús rallied; Silvio Romero rifled in a superb half-volley to pull the deficit back to 2-1 just before the hour mark. There was then controversy. Oberman chased a high ball into the box. A Lanús defender (sorry, I’m not sure whom) nicked the ball away, after which Oberman, unable to check his run, collided with Lanús goalkeeper Agustín Marchesín.
A lot of people cried penalty. Seemingly most also cried red card, even though the ball was nowhere to be seen and Oberman actually ran into Marchesín. Referee Patricio Loustau called nothing (for what it’s worth, as you may have guessed from my comments, I agree with him), and a minute or so later Lanús were level; Romero cut inside from the right and played an exquisite pass for Guido Pizarro to run onto and apply the subtlest of finishes. Lanús battered the door down for the remaining half hour, but couldn’t find a winner. Both teams deserved more than the point they each had to settle for.
Infuriatingly, the goal video here doesn’t include the Oberman-Marchesín incident, but you can see it on this page of the Olé website.
Hasta El Gol Siempre 