 |
| Olimpo celebrate their late winner against Banfield. |
In the second game the 2010 Copa Sudamericana champions Independiente lost a two goal half time lead against the team that pushed Estudiantes so close in the championship race; Vélez Sársfield.
Olimpo got their survival fight off to a brilliant start with a 2-1 home win against Banfield, Davíd Vega scored a brilliant half volley to equalise for the home team before Carlos Salom hit an agonising late winner. One of their closest rivals in the race to avoid relegation Quilmes fell to a 2-0 away defeat to Colón thanks to a brace of goals from club legend and record goalscorer Esteban Fuertes. The other promoted side All Boys lost their unbeaten home record since they rejoined the top flight in a 0-1 defeat to Racing Club in a rough encounter.
San Lorenzo will be disappointed to have dropped points against Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata after former West Brom player Juan Carlos Menseguez had given them the lead, however Gimnasia won a second half penalty for a foul on returning hero Guillermo Barros Schelotto which was converted by Juan Neira for the 1-1 draw.
Boca Juniors and Godoy Cruz both started the campaign with new managers but the little known Mendoza outfit showed why they will be making their Copa Libertadores debut this month and Boca Juniors are unable to qualify to the tournament they dominated between 2000 and 2008 with a comprehensive 1-4 away win, bringing back memories of another 4-1 win back in 2008). Boca can be pleased that they did have pose some attacking threat and Riquelme seems to have recovered from his lengthy injury however it was almost painful to witness such a pitiful defensive display from a club that was almost invincible at the Bombonera for so long and until so recently.
Sunday's last game was Tigre against River Plate which had provided plenty of entertainment in the last two encounters, in the last game of Clausura 2010 Tigre hammered River 5-1 and in the first game of Apertura 2010 River got their revenge with a last minute winner from Funes Mori however this game ended 0-0, was pretty light on entertainment and will be a disappointment to both sides in their fights to avoid relegation.
After some hefty squad rebuilding Lanús got off to a good start to the Clausura after an entertaining home 3-1 win against Arsenal. The visitors hit a late equaliser with a spectacular free kick from Juan Pablo Caffa but Lanús took the game with two injury time goals.
In the last game of the round Huracán took the lead against Argentinos Juniors thanks to a penalty from Javier Campora two minutes into his return to the Primera División after five years playing abroad in Mexico, Greece and Chile. The home team held the lead for 87 minutes before Nicolás Blandi hit a last minute equaliser.
| 11-02-11 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Estudiantes | 2-1 | Newell's Old Boys |
| Independiente | 2-2 | Vélez Sársfield |
| 12-02-11 | ||
| Olimpo | 2-1 | Banfield |
| San Lorenzo | 1-1 | Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) |
| Colón | 2-0 | Quilmes |
| 13-02-11 | ||
| All Boys | 0-1 | Racing Club |
| Boca Juniors | 1-4 | Godoy Cruz |
| Tigre | 0-0 | River Plate |
| 14-02-11 | ||
| Lanús | 3-1 | Arsenal de Sarandí |
| Huracán | 1-1 | Argentinos Juniors |
Positions after round 1.
For more South American football highlights, including the Brazilian league, the pick of the rest and international tournaments:
No comments:
Post a Comment