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Torneo Apertura 2009: fifth round scores & roundup By
Sam Kelly (sam@theenganche.com) River
Plate boss Néstor Gorosito could well be out of the
Núñez club by
Monday night after his side slumped to yet another defeat, this time
away from home against Arsenal de Sarandí in the final match of
the
Torneo Apertura weekend on Sunday night. Three matches without a win,
River have now failed to win an away match in their last eleven
attempts, and thanks in part to a spectacularly incompetent
close-range miss from Cristian Fabbiani after El
Ogro
was sent on as a second half substitution, Gorosito's days as boss of
the Millonarios
are now surely numbered. The only goal of the match came from the
penalty spot, Cristian Alvarez tucking away after a dodgy call from
the referee. As if to even things up, Cristian Faraoni disallowed a
perfectly legitimate goal for the hosts minutes later, for a phantom
offside. The clásico
of the weekend was something of a damp squi earlier on Sunday, with
San Lorenzo and Racing cancelling each other out in Boedo – the
only notable statistic was Aureliano Torres' first half dismissal for
leading into a challenge with his elbow. The day's best match was
surely the one at La Bombonera, where US Open tennis champion Juan
Martín Del Potro was presented to the crowd in his Boca shirt
prior
to the game against Godoy Cruz. With the twenty-year-old new ATP
World Number 5 watching from the stands, Godoy Cruz pooped the party
by claiming a second win of the year over Boca after Cristian
Chávez
(formerly of San Lorenzo, and not
the player in Boca's squad)
scored a late winner in a five goal thriller which saw some poor
defending, a controversially-allowed goal and Gary
Medel's first significant contributions to Argentine football. The
Chilean scored his first goal for Boca, rising for a header to make
it 2-1, and then got sent off in conceding the penalty from which
Godoy Cruz equalised. On Saturday Chacarita’s pointless start to the season continued with a 3-1 defeat to Colón, who are now four matches unbeaten after their opening round upset at home to Vélez Sársfield. Independiente took a point from the champions in an entertaining 2-2 draw which sees Vélez complete ten matches without a loss. Three of the goals came in a ten minute flurry shortly after half time, during which Vélez went 2-0 up before Independiente pegged them back to set up the finale, in which Carlos Matheu got the leveller with nine minutes remaining. For a reminder of Friday night's games, click here. Primera
División Torneo Apertura 2009, fifth round: 20th September 2009 |