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

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