Fecha 18 Clausura 2011 Argentina

Details of the 18th round of games in the Clausura 2011 tournament.

All of the video highlights are available by scrolling down to the Results section and clicking on the red scores.

Preview

Match reports

Legendary Boca Juniors striker Martín Palermo was given an emotional
sendoff after his final home game at the Bombonera.

On Friday night Olimpo missed their chance to move out of the relegation playoff places after they could only manage a 1-1 draw with bottom of the table Newell's Old Boys. Martín Rolle put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot early in the second half but Ignacio Fideleff found an equaliser for Newell's on 64 minutes to leave Olimpo needing a win in their final game against Quilmes to have any hope of avoiding the dreaded relegation playoffs.

In the early kick off on Saturday Arsenal (the team with the 3rd worst away record) faced a trip to Santa Fe to play Colón (the team with the worst home record). Arsenal managed to bag the win they needed in order to secure Primera División survival through a solitary goal from Gustavo Blanco in first half stoppage time.

In the next game Quilmes secured the win at San Lorenzo that they needed in order to keep alive their slim chances of surviving automatic relegation. The main advantage they had was that they were highly motivated to get the result while San Lorenzo have been drifting aimlessly towards the end of the season. Francisco Cerro put the visitors ahead early in the first half and Martín Cuateruccio scored a second late in the game to give Quilmes a vital 0-2 win. However it will all be in vain if either Gimnasia or Huracán manage to win any of their remaining games.

All Boys are sure to be playing Primera División football next season unlike their opponents Gimnaisa y Esgrima de La Plata who remain in the automatic relegation zone after a 1-0 defeat at All Boys. Emmanuel Giggliotti scored the only goal of the game to leave Gimnasia hoping that Huracán don't win either of their remaining games and needing to beat Boca Juniors in their final game.

Tigre are one of the three remaining teams in the fight to avoid the last relegation playoff position after they could only manage a 0-0 draw against Independiente.

In the early kick-off on Sunday Vélez Sarsfield took a step closer to the Clausura 2011 championship with a 0-2 away win at relegation threatened Huracán. Santiago Silva put Vélez ahead early in the second half, both sides had a player sent off with a quarter of an hour to go and Davíd Ramírez scored an injury time penalty to polish the scoreline.

The win for Vélez meant that Lanús needed to avoid defeat at home against Argentinos Juniors in order to take the championship race into the final round of games however they contrived to lose 0-1 to hand the title to Vélez. It was an anticlimactic end to the championship race but nobody could claim that Vélez do not deserve to win the championship.

River Plate are still embroiled in the fight to avoid finishing in the last relegation playoff position after they could only manage a 1-1 draw against an Estudiantes side that have now gone 8 home games without a win. Pablo Ferarri put River ahead early in the second half but Matías Sarulyte equalised for the home team a few minutes later.

The late game on Sunday was an emotional occasion for Boca Juniors' legendary striker Martín Palermo and the fans as the all time topscorer for the club played his final home game at the Bombonera. Unfortunately he did not manage to bag a goal and visitors Banfield came away with a point after a 1-1 draw. The fans stayed after the game to give Palermo a grand sendoff with fireworks and a lap of honour in front of a packed Bombonera. Palermo has taken a lot of bitter criticism from opposition fans for his robust playing style however the fact that so many of them are now openly celebrating his retirement illustrate the fact that in reality they view the man with fear rather than contempt.

The last game of the round was an entertaining encounter between Racing Club and Godoy Cruz at "el coliseo". Teó Gutíerrez scored twice in the opening half hour to give Racing a comfortable two goal advantage and to move into pole position in the Clausura 2011 top scorers chart with 11 but Mariano Donda pulled one back for Godoy Cruz before half time. In the second half Ariel Rojas baffled his way through the Racing defence and crossed to provide an unmissable opportunity for Rúben Ramírez to equalise and then late in the game a catastrophic mmisunderstanding between Racing goalkeeper Roberto Fernández and defender Iván Pillud presented Mariano Donda with a penalty which he scored to give "el tomba" a 2-3 victory and their first ever primera División away win against Racing.

Results

30-05-11
Olimpo	1-1	Newell's Old Boys
28-05-11
Colón	0-1	Arsenal
San Lorenzo	0-2	Quilmes
All Boys	1-0	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)
Tigre	0-0	Independiente
29-05-11
Huracán	0-2	Vélez Sársfield
Estudiantes	1-1	River Plate
Lanús	0-1	Argentinos Juniors
Boca Juniors	1-1	Banfield
30-05-11
Racing Club	2-3	Godoy Cruz

Positions

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Vélez Sársfield	18	11	3	4	34	16	+18	36
2	Lanús	18	9	5	4	26	14	+12	32
4	Godoy Cruz	18	9	4	5	32	28	+4	31
3	Argentinos Juniors	18	7	8	3	15	10	+5	29
5	Olimpo	18	7	6	5	27	23	+4	27
6	Boca Juniors	18	7	6	5	22	20	+2	27
7	Independiente	18	6	8	4	25	19	+6	26
8	River Plate	18	6	8	4	14	13	+1	26
9	Banfield	18	7	5	6	23	23	0	26
10	All Boys	18	7	4	7	14	18	−4	25
11	Estudiantes	18	6	6	6	18	18	0	24
12	Tigre	18	6	6	6	24	25	−1	24
13	Racing	18	7	2	9	24	24	0	23
14	Arsenal	18	5	7	6	24	22	+2	22
15	San Lorenzo	17	5	6	6	18	16	+2	21
16	Colón	18	6	3	9	20	26	−6	21
17	Quilmes	18	5	5	8	24	26	−2	20
18	Gimnasia (La Plata)	18	3	8	7	17	23	−6	17
19	Huracán	18	3	5	10	17	37	−20	14
20	Newell's Old Boys	17	3	3	11	15	32	−17	12