The main debate this week is, are teams lacking finishing? Or is defense properly worked? 7 out of the 9 games finished with a tie, 6 of them with the same result, 1-1. Only two games finished with a victorious team.



River Plate hosted Arsenal de Sarandi, in a game that was dull and lacked clear opportunities. This game had its own essence, captain Matias Almeyda celebrated 18 years since his debut with this same jersey. 18 years ago when he made his debut, he replaced Leonardo Astrada (current head coach), Daniel Passarella at the time was the coach, today he is the Club’s president. But Almeyda didn’t have a dream night, after he was sent off in the 7th minute for talking to the official. During the press conference Almeyda said “His decision was not fair. Since when are we not allowed to speak to the officials?”. River presented a change in the formation, with Cristian Villagra ocupating the position of right back, and Coronel at the center back, replacing suspended Facundo Quiroga. Wonder kid Daniel Villalba was sent to the bench, after he showed up 15 minutes late to practice, in his position was Luduena. Canales made his debut in the starting XI as well. Aside from the lineup difference, once again River committed mistakes in defense. Sena scored a goal 20 yards outside from the box, after he literally walked across the field with possession of the ball. River displayed no offensive game, and tied the score thanks to a free kick by Marcelo Gallardo. If the season were to end today, River would start next season in direct relegation position, something hard to understand when we consider the fact that River is the club who was won the most amount of titles in the Argentine League. Would you believe it if you saw Real Madrid or Barcelona fighting not to drop a category? I can’t either



Boca Juniors rescued 1 point in their away match against Godoy Cruz. Head coach Abel Alves put an almost completely different lineup in the field, something to consider is that 5 of the starting players are players who have recently been moved up to the first squad by Alves, and 8 players have come from the club’s youth system. It was the first cap for Santiago Villafane and Julio Barroso. Cristian Erbes returned to the starting lineup after two games. Boca was literally walked in the fisrt half, when Federico Higuain scored one of the best goals this season. When Boca needs help, they can light a candle to San Palermo. And the prayers were heard, because in the 24th minute of the second half, Martin anticipated a defender a tied the game with a beautiful header. After the goal Boca took control of the game, and were close to securing the three points. Jesus Mendez along with Juan Roman Riquelme pushed the team forward and left good hopes towards the next game. In the last minute of the game Javier Garcia made an amazing save, and proved that he is ready to be the goalkeeper the team needed. I guess not many people miss Roberto Abbondanzieri.

Miguel Angel Russo made his debut as head coach of Racing, and what a better way to start than with a a win. Hauche caught a rebound from Goalkeeper Pablo Migliore, and scored the only goal of the match (in offside position). San Lorenzo lost again, and Diego Simeone is being the one questioned for the team’s performance.

Velez Sarfield defeted Independiente 3-0, and we could say it was a bargain for the red side. Velez could have easily scored 3 more goals in the second half. The surprising fact was that Velez started the game with an alternate squad, since all their starters were rested for this week’s clash in the Copa Libertadores. In Independiente lost a game that on paper they should have won, but games are played and that is exactly what Velez did.
Colon defeated Chacarita Juniors 2-1, in a very controversial game. Esteban Fuertes proved that age is not a problem, and that he is still one of the league’s most effective strikers. The controversy of this game came into the game when Colon scored the game winning goal. The referee missed a clear foul for Chacarita, and from that play Colon scored the 2nd goal. Chacarita diserved more than a tie, this just shows the great work done by Fernando Gamboa.
This was an awful week for referees and even worse for strikers. Hopefully next week will bring a change, fans demand goals.