Fecha 12 Clausura 2011 Argentina

Details of the twelfth 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 two games featured wins for the bottom two in the Clausura. First up Newell's Old Boys recorded their first away win in sixteen attempts coming from a goal behind to secura a 1-2 victory against Gimnasia y Esgrima in La Plata. It was their seventh consecutive win against Gimnasia in the Primera División but the three points were still not enough to shift them off the bottom of the table.

The second game on Friday night was a classic featuring the two form teams in the division, Banfield and visitors Quilmes were the only sides to have won both of their last two games. Quilmes won the game 3-4 and having won three in a row with relegation rivals Gimnasia and Huracán floundering above them in the promedios table it is beginning to look as is manager Caruso Lombardi could do the seemingly impossible and save them from automatic relegation.

San Lorenzo reacted well to the departure of manager Ramón Diaz with a convincing 3-0 win in the clásico porteño against Huracán, their first win in six matches. With a tally of only one point from their last five games Huracán remain in serious relegation trouble and with the resurgence of Quilmes automatic relegation is becoming a more realistic threat.

All Boys and Argentinos Juniors played out a predictable 0-0 draw. All Boys have the weakest attack with only eight goals so far and Argentinos are second weakest with only ten, they also have the best defensive record and are the division's draw specialists with seven draws from their twelve games so far.

River Plate beat Racing Club 0-1 with a first half Mariano Pavone penalty. River have managed the impressive feat of moving to the top of the Primera División table despite averaging less than a goal a game so far in the Clausura. Things are not going well for Racing after their strong start to the season, thay have now only won one of their last seven games, the 2-0 victory in the Avellaneda derby back in Fecha 10.

Godoy Cruz missed their chance to go top of the table suffering a 1-4 home defeat to an Arsenal side that had failed to win ant of their last seven games. Lisandro López and Adrián González put Arsenal two goals ahead then Alvaro Navarro pulled one back in the first half. Mauro Obolo scored a pair of goals in the second half to secure Arsenal's biggest away win since a 2-6 thrashing of Lanús back in May 2008 and end their run of ten away games without a win. The worst thing from a Godoy Cruz perspective is that their single goal was brilliantly crafted while all four of Arsenal's goals came about through shambolic defending from the home team.

In the late game on Saturday Vélez Sársfield recorded their biggest ever away win against Estudiantes with a 0-4 thrashing to return to the top of the table. The result extended Estudiantes' winless run to eight games. Augusto Fernández continued his brilliant form with the opening goal and a wonderful assist for Maxi Moralez to put the visitors two goals ahead at half time. In the second half Rodrigo Braña was sent off for Estudiantes and Moralez scored his second of the game from the penalty spot. Substitute Davíd Ramírez bagged a fourth goal for Vélez to round off an emphatic victory.

On Monday Olimpo and Tigre drew 2-2 which does neither side much good in their battles to avoid relegation. Tigre will take the most positives from the game as they were away from home and with both of their goals Román Martínez demonstrated that there is someone other than Denis Straqualursi in their team capable of scoring. Straqualursi set him up with his first goal and his second was a wonderful individual effort chipping the keeper from around 30 yards out.

Colón continued their poor home form with a 0-1 defeat to Lanús who have quietly crept up to fifth in the table after a run of six games without defeat thanks to a diving header from Leandro Diaz.

In the last game of the round Boca Juniors could only manage a 1-1 home draw against Independiente, a team they have consistently dominated at home. Martín Palermo bagged an early goal for the home team with an excellent backheel but Lucas Villafáñez equalised for the visitors in the 77th minute. Both sides remain in the bottom half of the table.

Results

29-04-11
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	1-2	Newell's Old Boys
Banfield	3-4	Quilmes
30-04-11
All Boys	0-0	Argentinos Juniors
San Lorenzo	3-0	Huracán
Racing Club	0-1	River Plate
Godoy Cruz	1-4	Arsenal
Estudiantes	0-4	Vélez Sársfield
02-05-11
Olimpo	2-2	Tigre
Colón	0-1	Lanús
Boca Juniors	1-1	Independiente

Positions

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

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Fecha 12 Clausura 2011 - Preview and predictions

Preview and predictions for the 12th round of games in the Clausura 2011 tournament.

Preview

After last week's utterly pathetic tally of only one point I am expecting some improvement here. It could hardly get worse.

Both of Friday night's games feature sides battling against relegation. First up are Gimnasia y Esgrima who face by far the worst team in the Clausura so far in Newell's Old Boys. Gimnasia are running out of games to save themselves from the threat of automatic relegation, but they must take confidence from the fact that Newell's have not won in nine games and have failed to win an away game in their last 15 attempts. One fact that may give Newell's some confidence going into the game is that they have won all of their last six games against Gimnasia home and away.

After their amazing away win against league leaders Vélez last weekend relegation favourites Quilmes face another away game against Banfield. Quilmes lost their home tie against Banfield 0-2 back in October but last time they visited Banfield back in May 2007 they came away with a 2-3 win. I fancy this to be a highly competitive game between two sides with a lot to play for. Quilmes are battling for survival and Banfield are only three points behind the league leaders. The two teams are also the form teams in the Primera being the only ones to have managed to string two wins together in their last two games.

Argentinos Juniors face a trip to All Boys without any away support. the last time this fixture was played in the Primera División way back in 1980 the game ended in a 0-0 draw and I'm predicting a draw in this one too since Argentinos are the division's draw specialists with six in eleven games and All Boys have remained unbeaten in their last four games.

The big clásico between San Lorenzo and Huracán has a lot riding on it for both teams. San Lorenzo have to recover from the resignation of manager Ramón Diaz and put an end to their five game winless streak. Huracán look set to end the season in the relegation playoff places without a dramatic improvement in form however acontinuation of their four game winless run could drop them into the automatic relegation places. Huracán have had some decent results at El Nuevo Gasómetro in recent years however they have not scored more than one goal there since 1992 and have suffered a 3-0 mauling in their last game there in April 2010.

The next Clásico between Racing and River Plate looks like a potentially brilliant game. Both sides have played some excellent football in the Clausura but have lost unexpectedly too. Racing are probably the most unpredictable side in the league with five wins and five defeats in their eleven games. 

Godoy Cruz secured another famous away win at El Monumental last weekend and this week face a struggling Arsenal side on Saturday evening. I fancy the league's joint top scorers to bag a few goals in this one against a side that have never won a Primera División game in Mendoza.

The late game on Sunday is the reverse fixture of the pivotal and decisive game of the Apertura. Estudiantes who have now failed to win in seven games host free scoring league leaders Vélez Sársfield. This should be a much more entertaining game than the 0-0 draw that Estudiantes ground out in October. Vélez have scored at least twice in nine of their last eleven games and Estudiantes seem to have forgotten how to defend.

The fecha continues on Monday with Olimpo hosting Tigre. Olimpo are the leagues top scoring side and in Denis Straqualursi Tigre have the most effective striker in the league.Even though these are two of the leagues more unfashionable teams I fancy this to be a cracking game.

Colón vs Lanús games always have a great atmosphere because of the friendly relationship between the supporters of the two clubs. Lanús are unbeaten in five matches and Colón have not won a home game in their last five attempts.

The last game of the round is another clásico between Boca Juniors and Independiente. Both sides have been struggling for form however Boca's impressive 0-3 win at Huracán may have been the turning point in their season. Independiente have traditionally had a pathetic record at the Bombonera but they broke their 17 game winless streak with a surprise 0-1 win last time they played a league game there back in 2009.

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.

29-04-11			Prediction
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	1-2	Newell's Old Boys	1-0
Banfield	3-4	Quilmes	1-1
30-04-11
All Boys	0-0	Argentinos Juniors	0-0
San Lorenzo	3-0	Huracán	1-1
Racing Club	0-1	River Plate	1-2
Godoy Cruz	1-4	Arsenal	3-0
Estudiantes	0-4	Vélez Sársfield	0-2
02-05-11
Olimpo	2-2	Tigre	4-3
Colón	0-1	Lanús	0-1
Boca Juniors	1-1	Independiente	3-2

Score: 8 Points After last week's dismal effort 8 points does not look bad at all.

2011 Copa Libertadores octavos (last 16)

Overview

The best represented nation at the beginning of the knockout stages of Copa Libertadores 2011 are the Brazilians after all five of their teams successfully navigated the group stages. Cruzeiro were the standout Brazilians, romping home in group seven and twice humiliating Argentine group runners up Estudiantes. Internacional and Grêmio made it through without much difficulty. Santos crept through ahead of a highly entertaining Colo-Colo side in group five. Fluminense were incredibly lucky to make it through on goal difference after a highly debatable penalty in the dying minutes of their clash against Argentinos Juniors in group 5.

Four nations provide two teams in the knockout stages. Argentina lost three of their representatives in the group stages the remaining two were undoubtedly the best teams in Argentina at the end of 2010. Estudiantes crept through seven behind Cruzeiro and are trapped in a dismal run of form. Vélez Sársfield have recovered from some early season jitters to take up leadership of the Argentine Primera División and progress to the knockout stages of Copa Libertadores.

Mexico's two representatives are Club América who were winners of the tough group five and Jaguares who finished as runners up behind reigning champions Internacional in group six.

Both of the Colombian representatives in the knockout stages are suffering poor domestic form. Once Caldas had been runaway leaders of the Primera but a run of five games without a win has seen them drop off the pace. Junior have been stuck in the bottom half of Primera A since the beginning of the season and have only recorded four wins in thirteen domestic games in 2011.

Paraguay also have two representatives, Cerro Porteño put aside their poor domestic form with a dramatic 2-3 win against Colo-Colo in group five to secure their place in the last sixteen. Libertad cruized through group one becoming the first team to secure their place in the knockout stages.

Three other nations have a single representative in the last sixteen. Reigning Chilean champions Universidad Cátolica are looking good, they won group four ahead of Vélez Sársfield and also have a decent lead at the top of the Chilean Apertura. The other two sides both came through group eight at the expense of two Argentine sides. 2008 champions Liga de Quito of Ecuador won the group and Peñarol of Uruguay were runners up.

Results

27-04-11
Santos	1-0	Club América
03-05-11
Club América	0-0	Santos
Winner: Santos

Ganso scored the only goal of the game to give Santos a 1-0 home win against Club América and to secure progression to the quarter-finals after a 0-0 draw in the return fixture in Mexico leaving Santos as the only Brazilian representatives left in the competition after the other four Brazilian sides were all knocked out the following day

27-04-11
Once Caldas	1-2	Cruzeiro
04-05-11
Cruzeiro	0-2	Once Caldas
Winner: Once Caldas

Cruzeiro continued their impresive Copa Libertadores form with a good 1-2 away win against Colombian champions Once Caldas. The result seems better than it was though because Once had been stuck in a terrible run of form, their only win in their seven previous games was their 0-2 win against USM, their only win to date in Copa Libertadores 2011. Wallyson and Juan Ortigoza put Cruzeiro two goals ahead before Luis Núñez pulled one back for the hosts in the last minute to give them the faintest of hopes in the return match, however Cruzeiro have scored an incredible 15 goals in their three home games so far in Copa Libertadores 2011.

The Colombians pulled off the biggest shock of the Copa Libertadores so far with an unlikely 2-0 win in Brazil to earn their place in the quarter finals at the expense of the team with the best attacking record in the competition. Two goals within four second half minutes were enough to give Once the victory, Diego Amaya headed the scoring on 67 minutes from a corner kick and club legend Dayro Moreno hit the decisive goal four minutes later.

28-04-11
Peñarol	1-1	Internacional
05-05-11
Internacional	1-2	Peñarol
Winner: Peñarol

Matías Corujo scored the opening goal for Peñarol against holders Internacional with a spectacular shot however Leandro Damião equalised for the Brazilians in the second half with a long range shot.

Peñarol pulled off a major shock in the return leg knocking the defending champions out with a shock 1-2 win. Things seemed to be going to plan for Internacional after Oscar put them one goal ahead after only a minute of play but Peñarol took control of the game with two early goals in the sacond half. Alejandro Martinuccio equalised after only 15 seconds of second half play and Juan Manuel Olivera headed the winning goal four minutes later.

26-04-11
Grêmio	1-2	Universidad Cátolica
03-05-11
Universidad Cátolica	1-0	Grêmio
Winner:  Universidad Cátolica

In the first game of the knockout stages Chilean side Universidad Cátolica recorded a shock 1-2 away win against Grêmio of Brazil. Lucas Pratto scored both of the goals for the visitors either side of a cracking long range strike from Douglas.

Universidad Cátolica secured their place in the quarter finals with a 1-0 win in the second leg, Milovan Mirosevic scored the only goal of the game in the 87th minute to give them an emphatic aggregate win.

28-04-11
Fluminense	3-1	Libertad
04-05-11
Libertad	3-0	Fluminense
Winner: Libertad

Considering the ease with which Libertad qualified and Fluminense's reliance on a desperate last minute penalty decision to make it through to the knockout stages it is a bit of a surprise that Flu established a healthy two goal advantage in the first leg, establishing a 3-1 lead against their Paraguayan visitors. Rafael Moura and Rodolfo Gamarra scored a header each to make the score 1-1 before Fluminense scored a couple of blistering long range goals through Marquinho and Darío Conca late in the game.

Libertad secured one of the great Libertadores comebacks in the second leg, with only a few minutes remaining they had only scored once and looked down and out but Miguel Angel Samudio scored in the 86th minute with a cracking half volley to give the Paragauyans the advantage on away goals. José Núñez bagged a third goal for the hosts in injury time to bury the Brazilians and finish off one of the blackest days in the history of Brazilian club football in whick four of their teams were eliminated at the hands of teams from "lesser" south American nations.

26-04-11
Vélez Sársfield	3-0	Liga de Quito
04-05-11
Liga de Quito	0-2	Vélez Sársfield
Winner: Vélez Sársfield

At first glance a 3-0 win for Vélez Sársfield against Liga de Quito looks like a brilliant result however, the fact that they failed to score a few more goals to completely finish off the tie in the last 20 minutes when they were playing against only nine men means that Liga are not completely dead and buried given their formidable home form in international competitions. Augusto Fernández scored two early goals for the Argentinians and Sebastián Domínguez headed the third goal one minute after Luis Bolaños was sent off for the visitors. Neicer Reasco was also sent off for the Ecuadorians after 69 minutes but Vélez could not makle use of their twenty minute two man advantage.

27-04-11
Jaguares	1-1	Junior
05-05-11
Junior	3-3	Jaguares
Winner: Jaguares

Junior scored themselves a vital away goal passing their way through the Jaguares defence for Luis Paéz to score after only seven minutes but Jaguares got themselves back into the game with an unmarked header from their Colombian forward Jackson Martínez in the second half to secure a 1-1 draw.

27-04-11
Estudiantes	0-0	Cerro Porteño
05-05-11
Cerro Porteño	0-0	Estudiantes
Winner: Cerro Porteño (5-3 on penalties)

Cerro Porteño will be well pleased to have secured a 0-0 draw with Estudiantes in Argentina, but wary that an away goal in the return leg could prove vital. Estudiantes are stuck in a miserable rut having failed to win any of their last seven games .

Fecha 11 Clausura 2011 Argentina

Details of the eleventh 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

In midweek Vélez Sársfield took over as leaders of the division with a 2-0 win in their rescheduled game against San Lorenzo. They are now unbeaten in nine games in all competitions and have only dropped points in one league game since their slow start to the season.



Saturday started of with a fairly predictable 0-1 away win for Banfield against bottom of the table side Newell's Old Boys. Jorge Achucarro headed the only goal of the game midway through the second half. It was Banfield's first league win against Newell's at El Coloso since 2002.

Independiente and All Boys settled for a 2-2 draw. All Boys will be much happier with the result given that they came from two goals behind away from home to secure the point.Facundo Parra and Roberto Battión put the home side two up before Sebastián Ereros and Emmanuel Gigliotti scored a goal each in the last quarter of an hour to salvage a point which keeps them clear of the relegation zone.

Colón kept up their spectacular run of away form with a 0-2 win against Estudiantes, their fourth consecutive away win. Veteran striker Esteban Fuertes scored the first goal for the visitors and Damián Diaz added another deep into injury time. Estudiantes have gone from 100% invincible at home in the Apertura to a run of only one win in their last five home league games in the Clausura.

The biggest shock result so far in the Clausura has to be bottom of the table Quilmes 2-3 win away at top of the table Vélez Sársfield. Things looked like they were going to expectations when Hector Canteros headed Vélez into a halftime lead but Quilmes took control of the game with three goals in a 17 minute spell in the second half, the first from Miguel Caneo followed by a brace from Pablo Vázquez. Agustín Vultich got one back for the home side in injury time but it was not enough to prevent Vélez from going down to their second shock home defeat to one of the division's newly promoted clubs in the Clausura.

River Plate blew their chance to take over as leaders of the Clausura by losing 1-2 at home against Godoy Cruz. Jonathan Maidana gave River a half time lead but second half goals from Zelmar García and Mariano Donda gave the club from Mendoza province their third win in four attempts at El Monumental.

The big result on Sunday was Boca Juniors 0-3 win against Huracán in Parque Patricios. The first two goals came from well worked moves and were finished off by Cristián Chavez and Nicolás Colazo. The third goal was an emotional goal for Martín Palermo who fired into an unguarded net after an unselfish assist from Pablo Mouche which put an end to Palermo's 954 minute goal drought. Boca moved up to a slightly less embarassing 14th place while Huracán remain embroiled in the relegation fight knowing that a few decent results from Gimnasia or Quilmes could soon ditch them into one of the automatic relegation places.

Argentinos Juniors climbed up the table with a 2-1 home win against Racing Club, they had to come from a goal behind after Teó Gutierrez scored his seventh goal of the season for Racing but Santiago Salcedo and Gonzalo Prosperi bagged second half goals for Argentinos Juniors to earn a win and rejuvinate their championship aspirations.

In Sunday's other games Arsenal and Gimnasia played out a 1-1 draw which keeps both sides well off the pace in 16th and 17th positions and Tigre bagged a 1-0 home win against San Lorenzo thanks to an own goal from Jonathan Ferarri in the fourth minute, a result which continues San Lorenzo's terrible slump in form that has left them without a win in their last five games.

In the final game of the weekend Olimpo ended their run of five defeats in five games away against Lanús with a 1-1 draw secured by a 89th minute header from Juan Cobo. Olimpo move up to fourth in the table three points behind leaders Vélez but stay in the relegation zone.

Results

23-04-11
Newell's Old Boys	0-1	Banfield
Independiente	2-2	All Boys
Estudiantes	0-2	Colón
Vélez Sársfield	2-3	Quilmes
River Plate	1-2	Godoy Cruz
24-04-11
Arsenal	1-1	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)
Tigre	1-0	San Lorenzo
Huracán	0-3	Boca Juniors
Argentinos Juniors	2-1	Racing Club
25-04-11
Lanús	1-1	Olimpo

Positions

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

Show de goles

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

click here

Fecha 11, Clausura 2011 - Preview and predictions

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

Preview

After last Sunday's bumper crop of correctly predicted scores, based more on gut instinct than comprehensive statistical analysis I'm going to follow my instincts again but not without a discussion of the form and stats for those of you that don't put your faith in my guesswork.

The first game of the weekend kicks off on Saturday afternoon with bottom of the table Newell's Old Boys hosting Banfield. Despite eight games without a win Newell's can gain some confidence from the fact that they have not lost a home game against Banfield since a 0-3 defeat back in Clausura 2002.

Independiente will be hoping to make amends for their loss in the Avellaneda derby with a win against a resurgent All Boys side who have won two consecutive relegation six-pointers. Independiente have never lost a home league game against All Boys and last weekend's Racing Club loss was Independiente's only defeat in their last eight games.

Estudiantes are suffering one of their worst runs of form in years having gone 5 games without a win which makes the visit of the division's most successful away side a tricky prospect. Colón have picked up ten of their fourteen points so far on the road. Estudiantes have lost their home invincibility from the Apertura where they won all nine of their home games, they have only won one of their last four home league games and their last home game was a humiliating 0-3 defeat against Cruzeiro in Copa Libertadores.

League leaders Vélez Sársfield should be able to record a home win against a Quilmes side that have only won once at Vélez since they won their only league championship back in 1978 and lie bottom of the promedios relegation table. Vélez are unbeaten in nine games and have not lost a league game in eight encounters since their surprise home defeat by All Boys in the 2nd round.

In the late kick off River Plate face a tough tie against a Godoy Cruz side that have won two of the three league visits to El Monumental in their history. River Plate are second in the table and unbeaten in five games while Godoy Cruz are fifth and have only lost one of their last seven away league games.

On Sunday Arsenal host Gimnasia y Esgrima in a must win game for both sides. Arsenal have not won in six games and Gimnaisa have gone four games without a win and still occupy one of the automatic relegation places. Gimnasia have only ever won one of their eight league games at El Viaducto back in Apertura 2005.

In the next game Tigre host San Lorenzo with both sides are trapped in runs of poor form. Tigre have only won one of their last five games and San Lorenzo have fallen away from the championship chase with a run of four games without a victory. Both sides have undoubted quality on their day and in Danis Straqualursi Tigre have the league's most effective striker. Last time Tigre won a home league game against San Lorenzo was way back in 1958.

Huracán will fancy their chances against the weakest Boca Juniors defence in decades, especially as they have the second most effective striker in the tournament in Javier Cámpora but the last time they won a home game against Boca was back in 1994. Since then they have suffered five defeats and only managed four draws. Their last two home games against Boca ended in 0-0 draws but another is unlikely given the defensive weakness of both sides.

Argentinos Juniors lost their unbeaten record last weekend and were eliminated from Copa Libertadores in midweek. In the late kickoff on Sunday they face Racing Club. All six of Argentinos home games against Racing since they returned to the Primera División have ended up in wins with the losing side failing to score. Five for the home side and a single Racing Club win back in August 2008. Racing need to win to keep their faint tile hopes alive and Argentinos need the win to break their poor run of form and get themselves back in the running for a Copa Sudamericana place.

In the last game of the round Lanús host Olimpo on Monday night and will be hoping to avenge the 4-0 thrashing they took in the reverse fixture. Olimpo have won four out of their last five away games and scored three goals in their only defeat against Racing Club. Lanús have won all five of their home games against Olimpo in the Primera División.

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.

23-04-11			Prediction
Newell's Old Boys	0-1	Banfield	1-1
Independiente	2-2	All Boys	2-1
Estudiantes	0-2	Colón	0-0
Vélez Sársfield	2-3	Quilmes	2-0
River Plate	1-2	Godoy Cruz	1-0
24-04-11
Arsenal	1-1	Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	0-0
Tigre	1-0	San Lorenzo	2-2
Huracán	0-3	Boca Juniors	2-1
Argentinos Juniors	2-1	Racing Club	0-1
25-04-11
Lanús	1-1	Olimpo	2-1

Score: 1 Point. Terrible effort and my worst points tally ever.

Colo-Colo 2-3 Cerro Porteño, Copa Libertadores 2011

Game of the week - 22 April 2011

On 21 April 2011 Chilean side Colo-Colo hosted Cerro Porteño of Paraguay in the last game in group five of Copa Libertadores 2011. Both sides had been struggling in their own domestic leagues but this game would give the winners a chance to progress to the knockout stages of Copa Libertadores.

The game started well for the home team who established a two goal lead with a pair of cracking goals from Cristobal Jorquera and Esteban Paredes meaning that the visitors would need three goals in order to progress.

Jonathan Fabbro got a goal back for the visitors before half time with a quality shot into the far top corner and minutes after the break Iván Piris levelled the scores after a cool assist from Roberto Nanni. Fabbro secured his position as the hero of the day for Cerro Porteño with an 88th minute free kick for a famous comeback.

Neutrals should be a bit sad to see Colo-Colo eliminated from the competition as they were the second highest scorers after Cruzeiro, the team who's six games featured the most goals (31) and played in four amazing games selected by us as our games of the week.

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

Fecha 10 Clausura 2011, Argentina

Details of the tenth 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 on Friday night featured the bottom two teams, who were both trapped in a dismal run of form. The home team Quilmes were without a win in their first nine games of the Clausura and Newell's Old Boys were without a win in their last 14 away games. Quilmes managed a 3-1 win to lift themselves off the bottom of the table but they are still miles adrift at the bottom of the relegation table. They can look to last season for inspiration, they didn't win any of their first 13 games in the Apertura but managed an impressive 13 points in their last six games, this time around they have nine games left to save themselves.

San Lorenzo dropped more points in a 1-1 draw against Lanús which looked like it was going to see them slip further adrift of the leaders however as things turned out a draw wasn't a bad result at all considering that they had lost all of their last five games against Lanús.

Racing Club took the spoils in the Avellaneda derby with a 2-0 win against Independiente. Gabriel Hauche put the hosts ahead in the first half and Teó Gutiérrez rediscovered his scoring touch in the 86th minute to make it 2-0. There was still time for Lucas Licht to get himself sent off late in the game.

All Boys are back in business after winning their second vital relegation six pointer in a week with a 3-1 win against Huracán. Cristián Fabbiani scored twice in the first 21 minutes before Huracán's goal machine Javier Cámpora pulled one back. Emmanuel Gigliotti secured the win with a penalty early in the second half.

Godoy Cruz put an end to the last unbeaten record in the Clausura with a 1-0 win against Argentinos Juniors. Diego Villar scored the only goal of the game after only two minutes and Godoy Cruz held on for a win that took them up to fifth in the table.

The first game on Sunday was a cracking encounter between Olimpo and Estudiantes. Former Estudiantes player Diego Gavilán put Olimpo ahead from the penalty spot to give them the half time lead. The home team went behind after an own goal from Marcelo Mosset and a great strike from Gata Fernández four minutes later. Néstor Bareiro earned Olimpo a deseved draw after Martín Rolle set him up with an excellent through ball.

The next between Boca Juniors and Tigre was even more exciting. Denis Straqualursi scored two first half headers and Tigre looked to be cruising to the win but Colazo and Riquelme hit two quickfire goals before half time. Straqualursi bagged his hat trick from the penalty spot to re-establish Tigre's lead but Clemente Rodriguez scored a spectacular equaliser to make the final score 3-3. Straqualursi is the stand alone top scorer with nine goals in ten games.

Colón pulled off the surprise result of the round by holding Vélez to a 1-1 draw which put an end to their own four game losing streak in home games and also ended Vélez Sársfield's five game winning streak. Iván Moreno y Fabbianesi put Colón ahead midway through the second half and defender Sebastián Dominguez scored the equaliser deep into injury time at the end of the game.

Gimnasia held league leaders River Plate to a 0-0 draw meaning that all of the top six sides drew their games in fecha 10 and River kept their one point lead at the top of the championship.

In the final game of Fecha 10 Banfield beat Arsenal 1-0 to move up to tenth in the table, only four points behind the leaders River Plate. Arsenal are down in 17th having only won two of their ten games.

Results

15-04-11
Quilmes	3-1	Newell's Old Boys
16-04-11
San Lorenzo	1-1	Lanús
Racing Club	2-0	Independiente
All Boys	3-1	Huracán
Godoy Cruz	1-0	Argentinos Juniors
17-04-11
Olimpo	2-2	Estudiantes
Boca Juniors	3-3	Tigre
Colón	1-1	Vélez Sársfield
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	0-0	River Plate
18-04-11
Banfield	1-0	Arsenal

Positions

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

Show de goles

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Fecha 10, Clausura 2011 - Preview and predictions

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

Preview

Last week's effort was rubbish. I made several bad predictions because I had very little time to do any research due to internet problems and then ignored my good gut instincts on a couple of occasions. Hopefully I can improve on four points this time around.

The first game of the weekend pits the two bottom clubs against each other. Quilmes have not won a game yet in the Clausura and Newell's Old Boys have not won on the road in their last fourteen attempts. The stats suggest a draw but I'm going for a home win for Quilmes.

San Lorenzo are far from out of the title race as they are only four points behind the leaders with game in hand. This weekend they host Lanús who are unbeaten in three matches, have won on their last two visits to the nuevo gasómetro and have won five in a row against San Lorenzo home and away. I fancy San Lorenzo to avoid the hat-trick of home defeats in thios fixture with a win to put them back in the title race.

The big game on Saturday is the world famous Avellaneda derby. Racing Club have fallen out of the title race with a four game winless streak. They would love to get one over on their fierce local rivals Independiente however a backdrop of disappointing results and infighting amongst the players is not a great foundation for success. Independiente were knocked out of Copa Libertadores in midweek but recorded only their second away win in a year in the process. They should be reasonably confident going into this game especially since they have not lost a league game at El Cilindro since April 2005. 


Another week another vital relegation six pointer for All Boys, this time against Huracán. Both sides will be desperate for a win and I cannot see it being a pretty game, especially with All Boys professional bruiser Hugo Barrientos and Huracán's gastón Machín (an Argentine version of Robbie Savage) on the field. I fancy All Boys to rediscover their good home form from the Apertura with a win in this one and a bet on at least one red card is probably worth a punt too.

Saturday's late kick off gives us a chance to find out what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Godoy Cruz are the highest scorers overall in 2010-11 season, the joint highest scorers in the Cluasura and their games have featured more goals than any other team's with 32. The visitors Argentinos Juniors have the tightest defence in the Clausura having only conceded 3 goals in nine games, they are the only side to remain unbeaten and their games have featured less goals than any other team's with only 11.I fancy the unstoppable force to win out in this one.

After their midweek mauling by Cruzeiro in the Copa Libertadores Estudiantes face a difficult trip to Bahía Blanca to face Olimpo. The hosts have struggled at home in the Clausura but I fancy former Estudiantes striker Ezequiel Maggiolo to put in a strong performance in this encounter against his former team who have now gone four games without a win.

Boca Juniors host Tigre on Sunday afternoon. Both sides are in the bottom half of the table and are struggling to find any kind of good form. This fixture has a history of high scoring games and both sides have leaky defences. I fancy Denis Straqualursi to find a goal or two and Martín Palermo to put an end to his long goal drought in a high scoring Boca Juniors win or a score draw.

There is no reason I can think of to bet against Vélez Sársfield adding to their five consecutive league wins when they visit Colón on Sunday. The hosts have lost four consecutive home games and last time they faced Vélez they were battered 6-0.

Gimnasia y Esgrima manager Angel Cappa faces River Plate for the first time since he was sacked after in the middle of the Clausura and he will be wanting to prove a point. Games between these two sides have produced five consecutive draws and I would normally bet against the continuation of such an unusual run of results however after last week I'm going to stick with my gut insticts which say nil nil bore draw. if you do want to bet against the draw then a River Plate win is more likely given that they are top of the table and unbeaten in their last ten league games against Gimnasia since November 2005.

The last game of round ten on monday night is between Arsenal and Banfield. Both teams are in the bottom half of the table without having looked like bad sides. My instincts are saying draw again so that's what I'll go with.

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.

15-04-11			Prediction
Quilmes	3-1	Newell's Old Boys	1-0
16-04-11
San Lorenzo	1-1	Lanús	2-1
Racing Club	2-0	Independiente	1-1
All Boys	3-1	Huracán	2-1
Godoy Cruz	1-0	Argentinos Juniors	0-2
17-04-11
Olimpo	2-2	Estudiantes	2-2
Boca Juniors	3-3	Tigre	3-3
Colón	1-1	Vélez Sársfield	0-2
Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)	0-0	River Plate	0-0
18-04-11
Arsenal	1-0	Banfield	1-1

Score: 11 points. My highest score yet, things were not looking good until an excellent run of three correct scorelines out of four games on Sunday. I was especially pleased to have predicted Boca's 3-3 draw with Tigre and that Denis Straqualursi would be the star of the show, although Martín Palermo didn't score in the game as predicted.