Boca top and send San Lorenzo closer to drop
Reuters - Monday 05 March 2012, 01:39
Argentine title
holders Boca Juniors went top of the Clausura championship on
Sunday with a 2-0 win at San Lorenzo, extending their unbeaten
run to 33 league matches.
Young midfielder Juan Sanchez Mino, playing for rested
captain Juan Roman Riquelme, opened the scoring in the 59th
minute with a low shot from the edge of the box and substitute
Pablo Mouche added the second three minutes from time.
After four matches, Boca, who have yet to concede a goal,
have 10 points, two more than Velez Sarsfield, Estudiantes and
All Boys. Tigre joined Boca on 10 points with a 1-0 home win
over Lanus.
"This was a very important win to ratify what we did [in
winning the Apertura championship]. We have an important match
for the Libertadores Cup at home on Wednesday which we must
win," Mouche told Futbol Para Todos.
Boca meet Brazil's Fluminense in Group Four.
San Lorenzo remain mired in the bottom four of the parallel
relegation standings which are calculated on teams' average
points over three seasons. They occupy a playoff berth, like
fellow big club River Plate who lost it last June and were
relegated.
The Saints' behaviour in added-time hardly reflected their
nickname as Gabriel Mendez was sent off for a two-footed lunge
on fellow substitute Diego Rivero.
Uruguayan striker Carlos
Bueno and Boca defender Juan Insaurralde were also shown the red
card by referee Sergio Pezotta for fighting.
Boca might have gone ahead in the first half at San
Lorenzo's Nuevo Gasometro ground but goalkeeper Nereo Champagne
saved brilliantly from striker Dario Cvitanich and Insaurralde
put striker Santiago Silva's low left cross wide.
Uruguayans Juan Manuel Salgueiro and Bueno had second-half
chances for the home team but both were guilty of misses with
Boca goalkeeper Agustin Orion at their mercy.
Racing Club picked up only their second point of the
championship with a 0-0 draw at Arsenal to keep the wolves at
bay after two successive defeats shocked fans expecting a good
championship under popular coach Alfio Basile.
Their only consolation is that fellow giants and Avellaneda
neighbours Independiente have lost all four of their matches.
Their coach Ramon Diaz resigned on Saturday night after they
went down 3-1 at home to Argentinos Juniors.
Tigre, despite their lofty position at second in this
championship, are in even greater danger of relegation than San
Lorenzo, though their good form could help steer them clear.
They are one from bottom of the relegation table and the
last two in June will go down automatically.