Tigre pick up point in title chase and dogfight
Reuters - Sunday 18 March 2012, 00:48
Tigre clung to their lead
in the Argentine first division with a 1-1 draw at home to
Estudiantes on Saturday, while picking up another valuable point
in their fight against relegation.
Such is the Argentine league setup that Tigre find
themselves in the relegation zone while dominating the early
rounds of the Clausura championship in which they are unbeaten
with 14 points from six matches.
The drop in Argentina is decided on teams' average points
over three seasons - which amounts to six championships with
Apertura and Clausura.
The bottom two, where Tigre currently lie, in the parallel
relegation standings go down automatically. The teams in 17th
and 18th place play off against rivals from the second-tier
Primera B Nacional for their top flight survival, which is where
River Plate came unstuck last June.
Striker Mauro Boselli headed Estudiantes in front from a
17th-minute free-kick by Leandro Benitez but 10 minutes later,
midfielder Diego Morales equalised from the penalty spot after
being fouled by defender Cristian Cellay.
"We did all we could, they put a lot of pressure [on us], it
wasn't easy to get the ball," Morales told reporters.
"We'll keep fighting, with humility we can get out of it,"
he added referring to Tigre's dire position in the relegation
standings.
Tigre, a modest team from the Buenos Aires suburb of
Victoria, remain two points ahead of Estudiantes and Velez
Sarsfield, who were held 3-3 by Union in a thriller in Santa Fe.
Velez fell behind to a 18th minute goal by defender Rodrigo
Erramuspe before scoring twice before half-time with a penalty by
forward Juan Manuel Martinez and a strike from outside the box
by midfielder Ivan Bella.
Former Argentina midfielder Federico Insua put Velez 3-1
ahead in the 53rd minute finishing off the best move of the
match. Martinez headed down a cross into the box and Insua
powered the ball home.
However, Union fought back with two goals in the last 25
minutes. Erramuspe headed home a corner to the far post and
striker Pablo Magnin prodded a loose ball home with 10 minutes
remaining.