Fecha 8, Clausura 2011 - Preview and predictions

Preview and predictions for the eighth round of games in the Clausura 2011 tournament.

Preview

It's going to be a tough job to beat last week's score of 10 points, (six correct results & two exact scores) but I'll give it a go.

Independiente have not won in 23 away games (in all competitions) since a win at Banfield on 17 April 2010, their game in La Plata against Gimnasia y Esgrima must represent one of their best chances to break this dismal run, however they have suffered six consecutive league defeats in away games against Gimnasia since a 1-1 draw back in 2002. The last time they won this fixture was way back in Clausura 1995, which they have followed with a run of twelve defeats and that single draw.

Argentinos Juniors are still the only unbeaten team in the league but with five draws in their seven games they start the weekend down in 9th position. They are unlikely to win against Banfield given that they have lost four of their last five visits to Banfield and have not experienced victory there since a 0-2 win in Apertura 2004. There have not been fewer than three goals in this fixture since then but this season Argentinos have the best defence in the division with only two goals conceded in their seven games so far.

All Boys are in danger of dropping into the automatic relegation places unless they can rediscover their home form and get a decent result against Lanús. All Boys have not managed a home win in four league games since beating Banfield on 3 December 2010. Lanús have lost all three of their away games so far in the Clausura but they must be high on confidence after their 4-1 demolition of Racing last weekend. The three previous top flight meetings between these two sides have all resulted in home wins, one win apiece back in 1977 and a 1-0 home win for Lanús in Apertura 2010.

Olimpo suffered their first home defeat of the Clausura last weekend and they face another tough home tie against Vélez Sársfield this weekend. They are still the joint top scorers in the division with 14 goals in their seven games but they face a Vélez side who have come into a good run of form with four consecutive wins in all competitions. Last time these two sides met in this fixture back in 2008 Vélez recorded their first ever away win against Olimpo and I fancy them to repeat the trick this weekend.

Newell's Old Boys and Arsenal have been pretty much evenly tied in their eight previous meetings in Rosario with two wins apiece and four draws. Newell's have the leakiest defence in the division however I fancy them to go back to basics and tighten up at the back for this game.

Racing Club have seen their title ambitions rocked with two consecutive defeats and a midweek training session bust-up between Teó Gutiérrez and Mauro Dobler. They need to get their tournament back on track with a win against Tigre who's only away wins since September have come against teams that were lying rock bottom of the table (Independiente in February & Quilmes in March). Since Tigre's return to the top flight in 2007 this fixture has resulted in two 0-0 draws and a 1-0 win for Racing and Tigre have not won at Racing since 1955.

On Sunday Godoy Cruz host Huracán with both sides defending five game unbeaten records. Godoy Cruz are the joint top scorers in the division but have a patchy home record and have never beaten Huracán in a top flight game in four attempts (two draws & two defeats).

San Lorenzo should be able to record a home win against Colón, they have only ever lost one home game against Colón (a 1-4 defeat in 2005) and their home record against them reads; Won 15, Drawn 5, Lost 1. This is a must win game for San Lorenzo if they hope to win the championship given their history of dominance in this fixture however Colón have gone three away games without defeat with seven of their ten points so far coming away from home.

Quilmes manager Ricardo Caruso Lombardi offered to resign after his side's 0-0 draw against Argentinos Juniors last weekend however with two draws he is one of only two unbeaten managers in Clausura 2011. His side face a tough task to beat River Plate having only won once in their last nine games against them home or away. River are hoping that Rogelio Funes Mori will pass a fitness test, however Leandro Caruso couldn't have done much more to earn a place in the side than score two goals last weekend.

Boca Juniors host league leaders Estudiantes in the last game of the round. Boca have not won a home game against Estudiantes in the last three attempts, their last win in this fixture being a 4-0 win back in April 2006.

Predictions

As the results come in I will fill in the actual scores and colour code the predicted scores, green for exact score, yellow for correct result and red for completely wrong. Each green score gets three points, each yellow score gets one point and red scores get nothing. If you fancy playing along fill out your predictions in the comments below to see if you can beat mine.

25-03-11			Prediction
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	1-2	Independiente	2-0
Banfield	0-2	Argentinos Juniors	1-1
26-03-11
All Boys	0-0	Lanús	1-2
Olimpo	1-2	Vélez Sársfield	2-3
Newell's Old Boys	2-2	Arsenal	1-1
Racing Club	1-2	Tigre	1-0
27-03-11
Godoy Cruz	3-1	Huracán	2-2
San Lorenzo	1-2	Colón	3-0
Quilmes	0-1	River Plate	0-1
Boca Juniors	2-1	Estudiantes	0-0

Score: 5 Points.

Fecha 8, Clausura 2011, Argentina

Details of the eighth round of games in the Clausura 2011 tournament.
 

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

Preview

Preview & Predictions

Match reports

In the first game of the weekend Independiente put an end to a pair of stunningly bad records with one late goal. A 1-2 win at Gimnasia y Esgrima was their first competitive away win in 24 game sand it was also their first league win against Gimnasia in La Plata since June 1995. Since they won the last game of Clausura 1995 they have suffered twelve defeats and a single draw which came way back in 2002. Independiente managed to earn this historic win while playing most of the second half with only ten men having seen Carlos Matheu sent off in the aftermath of their equalising goal after 56 minutes. Despite looking the poorer and more disorganised side for much of the game Pellerano scored an historic injury time winner for the visitors.

Argentinos Juniors moved up to second in the table after a thoroughly deserved 0-2 win at Banfield (although six of the seven teams they overtook all have a game or two in hand). It was Argentinos Juniors first win at El Lencho Sola since Apertura 2004 and allowed them to remain the only unbeaten side in Clausura 2011. Franco Niell opened the scoring in the first half by emphatically hammering a loose ball into the top corner and Mauro Bogado made sure of the result with a second goal in the 79th minute.

In the early kick off on Saturday All Boys ended their run of four consecutive defeats with a 0-0 home draw against Lanús.

Olimpo's dream start to the season is well and truly over after their second consecutive home defeat, a 1-2 loss against Vélez Sársfield who moved up to second in the table. Ricky Álvarez scored the opening goal for the visitors in the first minute and Martín Rolle equalised from the penalty spot before half time. Emiliano Papa scored the winner tapping home after Olimpo goalkeeper Laureano Tombolini could only parry an Augusto Fernández shot into his path.

Arsenal kept up their impressive record at Newell's Old Boys' Coloseo del Parque stadium with a 2-2 draw, meaning that they have only ever lost two of their nine games there.  The visitors took advantage of the division's leakiest defence to establish a two goal lead within half an hour with goals from Luciano Leguizamón and Mauro Obolo. Newell's fought back to two all in the second half, Juan Cobelli and Sebastián Peratta were the goalscorers. Newell's survived having Mauricio Sperdutti sent off for a second yellow card with around ten minutes to go to avoid defeat for only the third time in the opening eight games of the season.

In the late kick off on Saturday, Tigre eased their relegation worries with a 1-2 win at Racing Club, inflicting a third consecutive defeat on the team that led the division after round five. Mariano Pernía opened the scoring blasting a high shot past Racing goalkeeper Roberto Fernández. Lucas Licht got himself sent off for two yellow cards within a minute at the end of the first half. Denis Straqualursi scored a commanding header to double Tigre's lead, his fifth goal of the Clausura and his 16th of the 2010-11 season. Claudio Yacob pulled a goal back for Racing on 76 minutes but they were reduced to nine players a few minutes later when substitute Luis Farina picked up a straight red card.

In the early game on Sunday Godoy Cruz and Huracán got off to a flying start with a goal apierce within the first six minutes. Alvaro Navarro put the hosts ahead and then Javier Cámpora bagged his sixth goal of the season to join Denis Straqualursi as joint top scorer. Navarro hit his second goal of the game after 16 minutes and Rodrigo Salinas scored a third from the penalty spot before half time. The second half was much less hectic with no more games. The 3-1 win for Godoy Cruz allowed them to jump up to second place.

River Plate jumped above Godoy Cruz into second place, level on points with leaders Estudiantes after a 0-1 away win against Quilmes. The only goal of the game was headed by Paulo Ferrari after a brilliant passing move from River, however it can be clearly seen that he was well offside and the goal should not have stood. Quilmes are sinking without trace after eight games without a win and without at least four wins in their next six games they will be as good as relegated.

San Lorenzo missed the chance to go top of the table with a 1-2 home defeat against Colón. The visitors have won three consecutive away games and acumulated 10 of their thirteen points away from home so far in the Clausura. Both of Colón's goals came from unmarked Lucas Acosta headers in the first half. Ramón Diaz is going to have to deal with slack defensive play like that if he wants his team to challenge for the championship. Cristian Ledesma was sent off before the hour for Colón but San Lorenzo couldn't make the breakthrough until substitute Giancarlo Carmona scored in injury time.

In the last game of the weekend Estudiantes missed their chance to establish a three point lead at the top with a 2-1 defeat at Boca Juniors. Hernán López put Estudiantes aheadafter only seven minutes making it look as if another insipid home performance from Boca was on the cards but Riquelme and Erviti worked their socks off to get them back into the game and Riquelme scored the equaliser after 15 minutes. Boca dominated most of the rest of the game and it looked like Estudiantes were going to claim an undeserved point until Lucas Viatri scored with a diving header in the last minute of regulation time to give Boca their first competitive home win since a 1-0 win against Quilmes on 6 December 2010.

Results

01-04-11
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	2-1	Independiente
Banfield	0-2	Argentinos Juniors
02-04-11
All Boys	0-0	Lanús
Olimpo	1-2	Vélez Sársfield
Newell's Old Boys	2-2	Arsenal
Racing Club	1-2	Tigre
03-04-11
Godoy Cruz	3-1	Huracán
San Lorenzo	1-2	Colón
Quilmes	0-1	River Plate
Boca Juniors	2-1	Estudiantes (LP)

Positions

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

Show de goles

For more South American football highlights, including the Brazilian league, the pick of the rest and international tournaments:

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Miguel Caneo backheel caño vs Argentinos Juniors, Apertura 2011

On 25 March 2011 Argentinos Juniors (the only unbeaten side) played Quilmes (the only side without a win) in round seven of the Apertura 2011 tournament in Argentina. The game ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw meaning that both sides kept their records. The highlight of the match was this backheel-nutmeg from Miguel Caneo of Quilmes which illustrates that even players from the worst team in the Argentine Primera know a good trick or two.

Ronaille golazo contra Junior, Apertura 2011 Colombia

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On 27 March 2011 Junior played América de Cali in the 8th round of the Apertura 2011 tournament in Colombia. Junior opened the scoring with a looping backheel goal from Carlos Bacca but América earned a 1-1 draw with this acrobatic finish from América's Brazilian forward Ronaille.

Part of the Golazo series.

Carlos Bacca golazo vs América de Cali, Apertura 2011 Colombia

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On 27 March 2011 Junior played América de Cali in the 8th round of the Apertura 2011 tournament in Colombia. Junior opened the scoring with this looping backheel goal from Carlos Bacca (who also scored a great goal against América back in 2010). The game ended 1-1 after another golazo from América's Brazilian forward Ronaille.

Part of the Golazo series.

CONMEBOL roundup 30 March 2011

Colombia

Once Caldas kept up their leadership of Apertura 2011 with a 3-1 win against Atlético Nacional who slipped into third place after Deportes Tolima took a 0-2 win at Deportivo Cali. The Cali giants have only managed one win in their eight games so far and lie second bottom of the table. The only team below them are Deportes Pereira who drew 2-2 with Independiente Medellín meaning that they have now gone 34 games and a full calander year without a league win.

Millonarios put in another strong performance with a 3-0 win against Real Cartagena to move up into fourth place above Itagüí Ditaires who could only manage a 2-2 home draw against Santa Fe. The game between Junior and America de Cali finished 1-1 with an exceptional goal for either side, Carlos Bacca opened the scoring with a looping backheel goal then América's Brazilian striker Ronaille equalised with an acrobatic overhead type finish.

Paraguay

Paraguay also featured a full programme of matches during international week. Olimpia rediscovered their mojo with a 3-1 win against Tres de Febrero while Nacional seemed to be establishing themselves as Olimpia's only realistic challengers with a 2-0 win against Cerro Porteño. Cerro look all but out of the race and the other two Libertad suffered a 2-0 away defeat to Independiente and Guaraní also lost on the road against struggling Sportivo Luqueño.

The team of the moment in Paraguay are Rubio Ñú who thrashed General Caballero 1-5 in their own stadium.

Chile

There were only three games in Chile last week due to the international break and all of them resulted in away wins. Universidad de Chile hammered Cobresal 2-5 to move up to third which was no real surprise however the other two games were definite upsets. Colo-Colo lost their first game under Américo Gallego and their six game unbeaten streak with a 1-2 home defeat against Huachipato and O'Higgins missed their chance to make up ground on the leaders with a surprising 1-2 home defeat to Palestino who have clambered well away from the bottom of the table with three consecutive wins. Both of their goals were excellent goals from Juniór Fernández wo got away from his defender with a lovely backheel turn for the first one and ran from his own half in the 88th minute evading several challanges to roll the ball home for the winner.

Ecuador

The only action in Ecuador were a few catch up games involving Copa Libertadores participants. Emelec put themselves right back into the title race with two home wins. They beat Olmedo 3-1 in midweek and then recorded a 2-1 victory over Manta to put themselves within three points of leaders Deportivo Quito with a game in hand.

Liga de Quito bagged a 0-2 win against Deportivo Cuenca making them the most successful team from outside Cuenca in games against Deportivo with eighteen victories. They are in second place one point behind Deportivo Quito with a game in hand.

Uruguay

The only action in Uruguayan domestic football over the last week were two resceduled games involving Copa Libertadores participants. Coincidentally both games featured El Tanque Sisley, who are now bottom of the table on goal difference after suffering a 2-4 home defeat against Peñarol and then a 5-2 away thrashing by Nacional (which I refuse to link to because the highlights Nacional fans upload always have the opposition's goals deleted out of them, ruining the narrative of the games).

Nacional are now joint top of the table with Defensor and Peñarol are three points behind with a game in hand.

Venezuela

There were only two games in Venezuela due to the international break. Caracas kept up their title challenge with a 0-1 win at Deportivo Táchira but Yacaruyanos failed in their bid to stay with the leaders after suffering a 1-4 home defeat against Deportivo Lara.

Peru

There was no domestic action in Bolivia due to the international break.

Bolivia

There was no domestic action in Bolivia due to the international break.

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.

Rogério Ceni 100 goals

On 27 March 2011 legendary Brazilian goalkeeper Rogério Ceni scored this cracking free kick for São Paulo in a 2-1 win against Corinthians. He is the highest scoring goalkeeper in the history of professional football with 100 goals, see video below.

Mariano Donda golazo vs Tigre, Clausura 2011

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On 27 March 2011 Tigre hosted Godoy Cruz in the seventh round of the Clausure 2011 tournement in Argentina. Mariano Donda had a brilliant first half, scoring this piledriver of a free kick and providing the cross for Álvaro Navarro to head home a second goal for the visitors. Tigre fought back in the second half with a couple of goals from Denis Stracqualursi to salvage a 2-2 draw.

Part of the Golazo series.

Juan Román Riquelme vs Colón, Clausura 2011

On 27 March Argentine giants Boca Juniors faced a tough trip to Santa Fe to play Colón in the 7th round of the Clausura 2011 tournament. Boca had suffered a run of three consecutive defeats and lay down in 17th position in the table. Juan Román Riquelme secured a vital 0-1 win with this intelligent free kick to beat Colón goalkeeper Diego Pozo at his near post. I was particularly pleased with this goal as I predicted a 0-1 away win for Boca Juniors in my Clausura weekly preview article.

Part of the Golazo series.

Iván Vélez miss against Banfield, Clausura 2011

On 27 March 2011 Independiente hosted Banfield in the seventh round of the Clausura 2011 tournament in Argentina. They had enjoyed only one win in their last nineteen games against fellow Argentine sides. They were one nil up and when Iván Vélez missed this chance. Banfield scored an equaliser later in the game which finished 1-1.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

CONMEBOL roundup 24 March 2011

Colombia

Once Caldas may be struggling in the Copa Libertadores but they are still top of the table and unbeaten in Colombia after a 2-0 win against bottom side Deportivo Pereira who have now gone an incredible 33 league games without a win.

Junior are in the opposite situaltion to Once Caldas, they have won four out of four in the Libertadores but have lost three in a row in the league, their latest defeat being a 3-0 thrashing by La Equidad.

Atlético Nacional are in second place five points behind Once Caldas after they won 3-0 win against Cúcuta Deportivo leapfrogging Itagüí Ditaires who lost 2-1 at Millonarios in a game that featured two cracking goals, this great curling effort from Cleider Alzáte to open the scoring and this spectacular individual effort from Jefferson Angulo to win the game.

The craziest game of the weekend was Envigado's 1-1 draw with Atlético Huila, which had four red cards, the home team finshed the game with only eight players.

Uruguay

Defensor Sporting continued their leadership of the division on sixteen points from seven games with a 2-0 win against Miramar Misiones, Fénix are two points behind in second after an impressive 2-4 away win at Racing.

Nacional are three points down in third place with a game in hand after a 3-0 win against Cerro and Peñarol are six points behind with two in hand after their game against bottom side River Plate was postponed due to their Copa Libertadores commitments.

Paraguay

The form team in Paraguay are Guaraní who have won three games back to back, and are nine points behind the leaders Olimpia with three games in hand. They played twice this week and beat Sol de América 2-0 and Rubio Ñú 2-1.

Olimpia dropped points for the second game in a row in a 0-0 draw away at Libertad. Leonardo Astrada's Cerro Porteño kept up the chase with three points but they made hard work of their 1-0 win against 10 man Sportivo Luqueño having to wait for an 87th minute winner from Luis Caceres.

Nacional also picked up three points to keep their championship hopes alive with a 0-2 away win against Tres de Febrero.

Venezuela

Zamora are the new leaders in Venezuela after they won 3-0 against Trujillanos and the previous leaders Anzoátegui lost 0-1 at home to Yaracuyanos. Caracas are four points down in third place with a game in hand but were not in action at the weekend due to Copa Libertadores commitments.

Peru

Cienciano lost ground in the Peruvian title race after a 1-0 away defeat at Sporting Cristal in which their Argentine manager Marcelo Trobbiani was sent off for entering the pitch after Cristal's Argentine manager Guillermo Rivero complained to the referee. Trobbiani faces a three game suspension after his angry reaction towards Rivero's interference.

The big story is the really poor displays of Peru's two Libertadores representatives. Reigning champions Universidad San Martín are in the relegation zone having failed to win any of their last four league games, their latest defeat was a 2-1 reversal at newly promoted Unión Commercial. The other Libertadores representatives León are not doing much better, they lost 1-3 at home to CNI and are only one point above the drop zone.

Bolivia

Oriente Petrolero may be the Copa Libertadores group two whipping boys but they are doing fine in their domestic league, a 0-1 away win at Guabirá keeps them three points clear at the top of the table.

Unlike last weekend five of the top six sides bagged wins. Bolívar won 1-2 at Real Mamoré, San José won 2-1 against Blooming, Nacional bagged a 0-1 away win at La Paz and The Strongest also got an away win, 0-1 at Aurora.

Chile

Colo-Colo's resurgance faltered at the weekend when their five game winning run was ended with a 1-1 home draw against Cobreloa.

Universidad Cátolica stayed at the top of the division after a 2-1 win against Santiago Morning and second placed Unión La Calera also won their game with a 3-1 home victory against Audax Italiano.

The most impressive performance of the round was La Sirena's 0-4 away win against Huachipato.

Ecuador

Deportivo Quito are still the leaders after a 3-2 win against Imbabura on Saturday, the newly promoted visitors dropped to the bottom of the table after this result but they can be reasonably proud to have given the league leaders a tough game and especially pleased with this excellent long range goal from Mauricio Follaco.

It is beginning to look like a three horse race for the title. Liga de Quito are in second place one point behind with a game in hand after they beat Liga de Loja 1-2 on Sunday and won 0-2 at Deportivo Cuenca in midweek. The third team are Emelec who are six points behind the leaders with two games in hand after they beat Independiente 3-1.

For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine & Brazilian leagues and international tournaments: click here.

Jefferson Angulo golazo vs Itagüí Ditaires, Apertura 2011 Colombia

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On 19 March 2011 Colombian side Millonarios recorded their third win of the season in a  2-1 win against high flying Primera A new boys Itagüí Ditaires. The fallen giants of Colombian football had to come from a goal behind after this great strike from Cleiter Alzáte however Jefferson Angulo's individual effort for the winner was every bit as good.

Part of the Golazo series.

Cleider Alzáte golazo contra Millonarios, Apertura 2011 Colombia

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On 19 March 2011 newly promoted Colombian Primera División side Itagüí Ditaires played Millonarios with the opportunity to join Once Caldas on sixteen points at the top of the division. Things didn't work out well for them as they suffered a 2-1 defeat, only their second defeat of the season. They did score one of the goals of the Colombian season so far. Lionard Pajoy bamboozled the Millonarios defence with a number of gambetas and turns before playing the ball back to Cleider Alzáte who calmly curled a shot into the far top corner of the Millonarios goal.

Part of the Golazo series.

Mauricio Folleco golazo vs Deportivo Quito

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On 19 March in Ecuador newly promoted Imbabura faced a tough trip to face league leaders Deportivo Quito. They lost the game 3-2 and found themselves back at the bottom of the table but they can be fairly proud to have given the league leaders a decent game and of this terrific golazo from Mauricio Folleco.

Part of the Golazo series.

Michael Arroyo golazo vs Universidad San Martín, Copa Libertadores 2011

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On 22 March 2011 Mexican side San Luis faced a must win game against Peruvian side Universidad San Martín in group one of the 2011 Copa Libertadores and anything less than a win for the hosts would have meant elimination from the tournament.

San Luis were already 1-0 up when Ecuadorian midfielder Arroyo hit this half-volley, the first of his two goals in a vital 3-1 win for the club.

Part of the Golazo series.

Marcelo Trobbiani vs Guillermo Rivarola, manager dispute

On Sunday 20 March 2011 Argentine managers Guillermo Rivarola and Marcelo Trobbiani lined their teams up against eachother in the Peruvian Primera División. Former River Plate player Rivarola was in charge of Sporiting Cristal and former Boca Juniors man Trobbiani led Cienciano.

The incident kicked off late in the second half when Trobbiani entered the field of play to grab the ball after a free kick had been awarded. Rivarola complained to the referee and succeeded in getting his opposite number sent off. At first Trobbiani seemed to be going peacefully but he then attempted to return to have it out with Rivarola. He was prevented from doing so by the police. Trobbiani later said that Rivarola is a cry baby and things could have been a whole lot worse had the police not restrained him as he was in a Mike Tysonesque rage.

Sporting Cristal held onto their 1-0 lead and as a result Cienciano lost their place at the top of the league. Trobbiani faces a one match suspension.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.

Fecha 7, Clausura 2011 - Preview and predictions

Preview and predictions for the seventh round of games in the Clausura 2011 tournament.

Preview

After last week's pathetic 3/9 effort on the predictions, which was coincidentally matched by our blindfolded monkey pulling balls marked W, D & L out of a bag we are looking for a big improvement this week, however going for a Boca Juniors win given their current run of form is perhaps a bit rash.

The weekend kicks off with a tie between the only unbeaten side and the only side without a win. Only the foolhardy or an insanely optimistic Quilmes fan would bet against a home win for Argentinos Juniors, however Argentinos haven't won a home game against Quilmes in the Primera División since 1991.

Friday's second game features two teams that have had unusual reversals in home form since the end of the Apertura. Estudiantes have lost two consecutive home league games after a run of ten consecutive home wins and All Boys have undone all of their hard work from the Apertura, slipping into the relegation zone after four games without a win, their only victory being their surprise away win at Vélez in Fecha 2.

The early kick-off on Saturday sees Gimnasia face their second consecutive relegation six-pointer. They will have a tough job getting a result at Húracan given their wretched away form and the fact that all eyes will be on the referee Gabriel Favale to make sure that he doesn't throw the game in favour of the La Plata side like Germán Delfino did in Fecha 6. Gimnasia can look to the fact that they have won two in their last three visits to Parque Patricios since Huracán returned to the Primera División in 2007.

Two sides that were on the wrong end of dodgy offside calls in Fecha 6 face each other in the second game. Racing Club will be hoping to bounce straight back from their defeat against Estudiantes with a win at Lanús however they have not won at "La Fortaleza" in over four years.

River Plate will need to win their game against 19th placed Newell's Old Boys to get their title ambitions back on track and stop their recent slide back towards the relegation places after three games without a win. "Los Millonarios" will be hoping for a high scoring win against by far the leagues leakiest defence but they will be missing Tanque Pavone after his injury against Arsenal last Saturday. Rogelio Funes Mori looks unlikely to recover from his injury so the striking duty could be handed to Leandro Caruso.

Surprise league leaders Olimpo host San Lorenzo in the late match, it is hard to assess whether San Lorenzo will be able to put up a decent title challenge given that their game last weekend was abandoned after only six minutes. It should be a high scoring game given that Olimpo are the leagues top scorers so far with 14 goals and a San Lorenzo win seems unlikely given that the visitors have not won in Bahía Blanca since 2003.

Tigre and Godoy Cruz kick off Sunday's games and it should be an entertaining encounter, as only Olimpo games have featured more goals (23) than games featuring Godoy Cruz (21). An away win looks like a likely outcome as "El Tomba" have one of the best away records in the division and Tigre have only managed to win one of their previous four home games.

Vélez and Arsenal will be looking to consolidate their positions in the Copa Sudamericana 2011 qualification positions. A win for Arsenal seems unlikely as they have never won a league game at "El Fortín".

Independiente will be hoping to bag only their second win in eighteen games against Argentine opposition when they face Banfield. An away win looks a distinct possibility as "El Taladro" have won their previous two away games in the Clausura and have won three out of their four previous away league games against Independiente.

Colón will be hoping to turn around their poor run of form when they host Boca Juniors on Sunday night.  The visitors are seriously struggling under new manager Julio Cesár Falcioni but they can take some inspiration from the fact that their only win of the Clausura came away from home when they beat Racing in round two. A draw seems unlikely as it has been 13 years and ten league games between these two at the "Cementerio de los elefantes" since the last draw, with Colón leading with six wins to Boca's four since a 2-2 draw back in 1998. I fancy Martín Palermo to end his goalscoring drought in this game to find his first goal of the Clausura and silence his critics.

Predictions

As the results come in I will fill in the actual scores and colour code the predicted scores, green for exact score, yellow for correct result and red for completely wrong. Each green score gets three points, each yellow score gets one point and red scores get nothing. If you fancy playing along fill out your predictions in the comments below to see if you can beat mine.

25-03-11			Prediction
Argentinos Juniors	0-0	Quilmes	2-0
Estudiantes	3-0	All Boys	1-0
26-03-11
Olimpo	0-1	San Lorenzo	2-2
Huracán	2-0	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	2-1
Lanús	4-1	Racing Club	2-2
River Plate	2-1	Newell's Old Boys	3-0
27-03-11
Tigre	2-2	Godoy Cruz	2-3
Independiente	1-1	Banfield	1-1
Vélez Sársfield	3-0	Arsenal	2-0
Colón	0-1	Boca Juniors	0-1

Score: 10 Points, I would definately have won some money if I'd put bets on that lot.

Fecha 7, Clausura 2011, Argentina

Details of the seventh 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

Preview & Predictions

Match reports

The first game of the round saw the only unbeaten side host the only team without a win in the Clausura. Anyone would have expected Argentinos Juniors to dominate the game against bottom of the table Quilmes who were led by former Argentinos Juniors manager Ricardo Caruso Lombardi but the visitors had the best of the game. Miguel Caneo played a lovely backheel caño early in the game, Damian Leyes had a strong penalty appeal turned down just before half time and Quilmes had the majority of the chances in the second half too before the game ended in farce after two players were sent off following a 93rd minute scuffle. A 0-0 draw means that Quilmes remained winless and bottom of the table, Argentinos Juniors remained unbeaten but still haven't won at home in the Primera División against Quilmes since 1991.

In Friday night's second game Estudiantes faced the All Boys side that were one of the two sides to beat them in the Apertura. After two consecutive home defeats in the league this would have seemed like a potentially tough tie however All Boys' alarming slump in form since the turn of the year and the fact that they gifted Estudiantes two own-goals in the opening 23 minutes made the remainder of the game a bit of a cake walk for the home team. In the second half Leandro González headed home from a Hernán López cross to make the final score 3-0. Estudiantes headed to the top of the table while All Boys slipped to within a fraction of the automatic relegation places.

In the early kick off on Saturday Hurácan  improved their standings in the relegation table with a 2-0 win against Gimnasia who missed the chance to clamber out of the automatic relegation places ahead of All Boys. The home side cruised to only their second win of the campaign after scoring two early goals. 19 year old Rodrigo Battaglia hit a cracking goal after only eight minutes and Javier Cámpora bagged his fifth goal in seven league games for Huracán after only seventeen miutes.

The league leaders from fecha six, Olimpo suffered a 0-1 home defeat to San Lorenzo who now lie two points behind the leaders Estudiantes but with a game in hand. The only goal of the game came in the second half from Uruguayan forward Juan Salgueiro. Despite Jonathan Botinelli getting himself sent off for the visitors Olimpo could not find an equaliser.

Racing Club looked set to head back to the table after a strong first half display at Lanús but they had only established a one goal lead through a Patricio Toranzo free kick for all their dominance. The second half brought another spectacular Racing Club collapse as seen before in their fecha five game against Olimpo, but this time they did not have the comfort of a four goal lead. Goalkeeper Jorge De Olivera was at fault for the first two Lanús goals, letting a Mario Regueiro shot beat him at the near post and then presenting them with the opportunity to attack with a dreadful miskick. Carlos Izquierdoz headed his first ever goal for Lanús for their third and Guido Pizarro scored in injury time to make it 4-1.

River Plate put an end to their three game winless run with a 2-1 win against Newell's Old Boys. River did it without the injured strikeforce of Mariano Pavone and Rogelio Funes Mori, instead relying on normally goalshy forward Leandro Caruso who put an end to his long goal drought since signing with River in June 2010 with a pair of goals either side of Mauricio Sperdutti's equaliser for Newell's.

In Sunday's early game Tigre recovered from two goals down to earn a valuable point in their game against Godoy Cruz. Mariano Donda put the visitors ahead with a brilliant long range strike and then provided the cross for Alvaro Navarro to make it two nil at half time. After the break Tigre came out fighting and Godoy Cruz played a lot more negatively, apparently trying to hold onto their lead. Denis Straqualursi was the heo for the home team, bagging both the goals with the equaliser coming deep in stoppage time. The 14th and 15th goals of 2010-11 for the Gimnasia y Esgrima castoff, while his former side have only managed 20 between them all. The fact that Godoy Cruz are still unbeaten on the road in seven games stretching back to 14 November 2010 will be little consolation given the way they gave away their two goal lead.

I n Avellaneda Independiente were held to a 1-1 draw by Banfield in a hard fought encounter. Eduardo Tuzzio put the hosts 1-0 ahead in the 8th minute and Iván Vélez should have made it two nil soon after. Banfield's Jonatan Gómez somehow in avoided getting sent off for a second yellow card offence after deliberately blocking a throwin with both hands. Banfield then scored a bitterly disputed equaliser which proved to be onside after the video replays, two Banfield players were in offside positions but inactive. The first half ended with Independiente manager Antonio Mohamed getting sent off for excessive complaining. Both sides created chances in the second half thanks to the carefree attitude towards posession displayed by players on either side. Banfield were clearly the steelier of the two sides with generally good defensive positioning and good closing down when they lost posession. Independiente showed glimpses of individual talent and occasional good passing ability. They need to concentrate on these positive aspects of their game rather than complaining about percieved injustices.

Juan Román Riquelme scored a cracking free kick to give Boca Juniors a 0-1 win at Colón to give them theur second away win of the Clausura.

Arsenal continued their poor away record against Vélez Sársfield suffering a 3-0 defeat, they have still yet to win a game against Vélez in Liniers.

Results

25-03-11
Argentinos Juniors	0-0	Quilmes
Estudiantes	3-0	All Boys
26-03-11
Huracán	2-0	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)
Olimpo	0-1	San Lorenzo
Lanús	4-1	Racing Club
River Plate	2-1	Newell's Old Boys
27-03-11
Tigre	2-2	Godoy Cruz
Independiente	1-1	Banfield
Vélez Sársfield	3-0	Arsenal
Colón	0-1	Boca Juniors

Positions

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

Show de goles

For more South American football highlights, including the Brazilian league, the pick of the rest and international tournaments:

click here

Hernán Rodrigo López vs Racing, Clausura 2011

On Sunday 20 March 2011 Primera División leaders hosted reigning Argentine champions Estudiantes in the sixth round of the Clausura 2011 tournament.

Estudiantes bossed the first half but couldn't make the breakthrough and in the second half Racing Club came out fighting. The hosts created a number of great chances to score and had a brilliantly taken Teófilo Gutiérrez goal wrongly disallowed for offside.

As is often the way Estudiantes capitalised on this bad call by scoring a late winner. The goal was this excellent chip from Uruguayan forward Hernán Rodrigo López, his second wonderful goal of the week and his fourth goal in two games.

Part of the Golazo series.

Boca Juniors 0-2 Olimpo, Clausura 2011

Game of the week - 22 March 2011

Sunday 20 March 2011 will be a day that lives long in the memories of the fans of Olimpo de Bahía Blanca. Their game against Boca Juniors was monumentally important for the small club from the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province for several reasons. Not only was their 0-2 win at the once intimidating Bombonera stadium their first away win against Boca Juniors, the world's joint most successful team in international club football.

Olimpo played the better football for the majority of the match and had a perfectly good goal from Ezequiel Maggiolo disallowed before Martín Rolle put them ahead controlling the ball and striking the shot on the run. In the second half the visitors even began showboating and attempting to play Olé football. In the last few minutes of the game Juan Furch came on as a substitute and scored the "Aurinegro" a deserved second goal within a minute.

The result meant that at the end of the sixth round of games Olimpo were sitting alone at the very top of the Clausura 2011 table and also outside of the promedios relegation zone for the first time since they lost to Boca in the reverse fixture back in September.

For more great games involving South American teams, check out the rest of the Partidazo series.

Players attack a referee in Córdoba

Things got out of hand in this regional league game in Córdoba between Juventud Cátolica de Río Segundo and Sportivo Laguna Larga. The incident kicked off when the Juventud players took exception to a decision by referee Hugo Vega and one of them hit the official. When the linesmen and other officials tried to intervene they also came under attack. Vega received a serious head injury and was taken to hospital recovering consciousness in the ambulance. He later said that it was the first time he had felt fear in his ten years as a football referee. The police are studying the incident to consider whether charges can be brought against any of the players.

For more crazy South American football check out the rest of the Cosas locas series.