Fecha 2 Apertura 2011 Argentina

Details of the 2nd round of games in the Apertura 2011 tournament.

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

Preview

Preview & Predictions - Sorry no time for preview and predictions for fecha 2, but I did manage to knock together a preview for the Apertura 2011 tournament here

Match reports

In the first game of round two Atlético Rafaela came crashing back to Earth after a 1-3 home defeat to Arsenal de Sarandí. The newly promoted side had led the division after round one but were undone by a blitz of first half goals from Arsenal, Mauro Obolo scored the opener and Luciano Leguizamón bagged a brace, Alexis Castro pulled one back for the hosts with a second half penalty but that will not hide the fact that all three of Arsenal's goals came from terrible defensive errors.

Reigning champions Vélez Sársfield bagged their first win of the new season with a thumping 3-0 victory against Banfield. Santiago Silva opened the scoring with a first half penalty, then Fernando Ortíz and Juan Manuel Martínez added two more in the second half. The result lifted Velez into the top five but left Banfield stranded at the bottom of the table as the only team to have lost both of their opening games and one of only three sides yet to score a goal.

Estudiantes seem to have begun the Apertura as they ended the Clausura, winless and struggling to score goals. After a 0-2 home defeat to San Lorenzo they have now gone 9 home games without a win, an incredible turnaround for a team that won Apertura 2010 with a 100% home record. Ezequiel Gigliotti and Gabriel Méndez set eachother up to score two goals within two minutes of each other to give San Lorenzo their first goals and points of the season.

After a turgid 0-0 away draw with Olimpo in the opening game Boca Juniors recorded a resounding 4-0 victory against newly promoted Unión in their first home game of the season. The game was much closer than the four goal margin suggests, Lucas Viatri scored the opening goal in the first minute but Boca had to wait until the 79th minute before the floodgates opened after Viatri scored his second of the game. Juan Román Riquelme scored the 3rd with a calmly taken strike and Nicolás Colazo bagged a fourth with a blistering shot.

San Martín had to wait until the second round to make their return to top flight football after the postponement of their opening game, however a 2-1 win against Tigre made it well worth the wait for their fans. Roberval opened the scoring for the home side with a great control and powerful finish then Lucas Landa doubled their lead, heading in from a corner kick which was dismally defended by the visitors. The only consolation for Tigre was a Emmanuel Pío's cracking strike to pull one back in injury time.

Lanús became the only side to win both of their opening games after second half substitute and new signing Mariano Pavone scored the only goal of the game deep into injury time to earn them a 1-0 win against Independiente.

The next three games all resulted in 1-1 draws. Argentinos Juniors and Newll's Old Boys shared the points, followed by Colón and All Boys and then by Belgrano and Olimpo. Aside from Colón who won their opening game, the other five teams have all drawn both of their opening fixtures.

In the final game of the round Racing Club demolished Godoy Cruz 3-0. Teó Gutiérrez opened the scoring on 11 minutes before leonardo Sigali gave away a penalty and got himself sent off for two yellow cards in the 21st minute. Teó Gutiérrez blasted the penalty kick against the crossbar and it took until late in the second half for Racing to benefit from their man advantage, Lucas Castro secured the points with cute little chip over the goalkeeper in the 70th minute before Teó climbed to the top of the goalscorers chart with his second of the game on 76'.

Results

15-08-11
Atlético Rafaela	1-3	Arsenal
Vélez Sársfield	3-0	Banfield
Estudiantes	0-2	San Lorenzo
Boca Juniors	4-0	Unión
16-08-11
San Martín	2-1	Tigre
Lanús	1-0	Independiente
Argentinos Juniors	1-1	Newell's Old Boys
17-08-11
Colón	1-1	All Boys
Belgrano	1-1	Olimpo
Racing Club	3-0	Godoy Cruz

Positions

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Lanús	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2	6
2	Boca Juniors	2	1	1	0	4	0	+4	4
3	Racing Club	2	1	1	0	4	1	+3	4
4	Vélez Sársfield	2	1	1	0	4	1	+3	4
5	Colón	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	4
6	Arsenal	2	1	0	1	4	3	+1	3
7	San Martín (SJ)	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	3
8	San Lorenzo	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1	3
9	Atlético de Rafaela	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	3
10	All Boys	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2
11	Argentinos Juniors	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2
12	Belgrano	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2
13	Newell's Old Boys	2	0	2	0	1	1	0	2
14	Olimpo	2	0	2	0	1	1	0	2
15	Tigre	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1	1
16	Estudiantes	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2	1
17	Godoy Cruz	2	0	1	1	1	4	−3	1
18	Unión	2	0	1	1	1	5	−4	1
19	Independiente	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	0
20	Banfield	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	0