Clausura 2002, results/standings

[King Italy]

Played on Saturday, February 16

Nueva Chicago 1 Colon de Santa Fe 0
Banfield 0 Belgrano de Cordoba 1
Union de Santa Fe 2 Chacarita Juniors 2

Played on Friday, February 15

Velez Sarsfield 2 Newell's Old Boys 2

Playing on Sunday, February 17

Boca Juniors v San Lorenzo
Estudiantes La Plata v Gimnasia La Plata
Talleres de Cordoba v Lanus
Rosario Central v Argentinos Juniors
Racing Club v Independiente
Huracan v River Plate



Standings:

1 Velez Sarsfield 2 1 1 0 5 2 4
2 San Lorenzo 1 1 0 0 4 2 3
3 Banfield 2 1 0 1 3 1 3
4 Colon de Santa Fe 2 1 0 1 3 1 3
5 River Plate 1 1 0 0 3 1 3
6 Huracan 1 1 0 0 2 0 3
7 Boca Juniors 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
8 Gimnasia La Plata 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
9 Belgrano de Cordoba 2 1 0 1 3 3 3
10 Nueva Chicago 2 1 0 1 3 4 3
11 Argentinos Juniors 1 0 1 0 2 2 1
12 Racing Club 1 0 1 0 2 2 1
13 Lanus 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
14 Rosario Central 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
15 Union de Santa Fe 2 0 1 1 4 5 1
16 Chacarita Juniors 2 0 1 1 2 4 1
17 Newell's Old Boys 2 0 1 1 2 5 1
18 Talleres de Cordoba 1 0 0 1 1 3 0
19 Estudiantes La Plata 1 0 0 1 0 3 0
20 Independiente 1 0 0 1 0 3 0

[valdanito]

02/15/2002. Week 2 of the Clausura will have some interesting match-ups this weekend. Beginning with tonight's battle Velez Sarsfield and Newell's Old Boys. Velez fresh from their thrashing of Independiente on last Sunday will be looking to stay in front of the pack. Newell's is hoping to stop the blood flow and to gain some points, since Banfield destroyed them last week. Then on Saturday, we will have Colon taking a little trip to Buenos Aires to take on Nueva Chicago. Banfield will strive to continue their good play as of late, as they host Belgrano, while Union will host the Chacarita Juniors with both teams looking to register their first points of the Clausura.

Sunday will have some awesome match-ups, starting with Boca hosting San Lorenzo in "La Bombonera". Will Boca show any signs of a Copa Libertadores hangover? They will have to play better than they did on their match Wednesday night against Santiago Wanderers to beat the "Los Cuervos" of San Lorenzo. Another great match-up will be the La Plata derby as the "Los Pincharratas" of Estudiantes host the local rivals, Gimnasia La Plata. Then theres another Avellaneda derby with Racing Club hosting the "Diablo Rojos" of Independiente. The Diablo Rojos will need to make some major changes if they want to achieve a positive result. They will add forward Pablo Cuba to their roster to help out, but Racing has counter with adding Chilean defender Adrian Rojas to their backfield. Already Racing has been criticized in their title defense, but look for them to show that the 2001 Apertura was no fluke. Rounding out the weekend's action will be River Plate traveling to the Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó, to take on local Rivals Huracan. The teams will try not to beat each other too badly, as they have a short week. The 3rd match day of the Clausura begins on Tuesday. Here's the entire ledger for Week 2.

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Friday:
VELEZ SARSFIELD - NEWELL'S OLD BOYS

Saturday.
NUEVA CHICAGO - COLON
BANFIELD - BELGRANO
UNION - CHACARITA

Sunday:
Boca Juniors - SAN LORENZO
ESTUDIANTES La Plata - GIMNASIA La Plata
Talleres - Lanus
Rosario Central - Argentinos Juniors
RACING CLUB - INDEPENDIENTE
HURACAN - RIVER PLATE

[King Italy]

Results from Sunday:


Boca Juniors 0 San Lorenzo 0
Estudiantes La Plata 3 Gimnasia La Plata 2
Talleres de Cordoba 2 Lanus 0
Rosario Central 2 Argentinos Juniors 1
Racing Club 1 Independiente 2
Huracan 0 River Plate 4


Standings:

1 River Plate 2 2 0 0 7 1 6
2 Velez Sarsfield 2 1 1 0 5 2 4
3 San Lorenzo 2 1 1 0 4 2 4
4 Boca Juniors 2 1 1 0 3 2 4
5 Rosario Central 2 1 1 0 2 1 4
6 Banfield 2 1 0 1 3 1 3
7 Colon de Santa Fe 2 1 0 1 3 1 3
8 Gimnasia La Plata 2 1 0 1 5 5 3
9 Belgrano de Cordoba 2 1 0 1 3 3 3
10 Talleres de Cordoba 2 1 0 1 3 3 3
11 Nueva Chicago 2 1 0 1 3 4 3
12 Estudiantes La Plata 2 1 0 1 3 5 3
13 Huracan 2 1 0 1 2 4 3
14 Independiente 2 1 0 1 2 4 3
15 Union de Santa Fe 2 0 1 1 4 5 1
16 Argentinos Juniors 2 0 1 1 3 4 1
17 Racing Club 2 0 1 1 3 4 1
18 Chacarita Juniors 2 0 1 1 2 4 1
19 Lanus 2 0 1 1 0 2 1
20 Newell's Old Boys 2 0 1 1 2 5 1

[valdanito]

02/17/2002. River Plate breaks away from the pack this weekend in their 4-0 victory over Huracan. River was previously tied for first with 8 other clubs, but those clubs either had either lost or draws for results in the Week #2. Huracan played River very tough until Goal Keeper Martin Rios was shown red at the 43rd minute of the match. River enjoyed the man advantage, scoring all four goals after that point. Two were Fernando Cavenaghi, who now has 3 goals in the young season.

Elsewhere in the Clausura, which could have been refer to as the Weekend of the Underdog, Talleres and Independiente made two of the most surprising results. Talleres finished last season in dead last of the Apertura, and things were not looking so great for the team from Córdoba in 2002. They had opened the season without winning a match, but they did achieved a draw in the Monumental of River Plate last Thursday night, in Copa Libertadores action. That draw seemed to give Talleres the needed confidence to slap around Lanus 2-0. Independiente was reeling into a bottomless pit. Their outlook was one of total grim. Then they were to visit their local rivals of Racing Club, who won the Apertura in December. However they put all of those bad memories behind them and stepped on their hosts, by defeating them 2-1 in the Estadio Presidente Perón.

The Classico match between Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo finished with a dismal 0-0 draw. Boca has played two straight matches in the "La Bombonera" without scoring a goal. Something that the Boca fans are just not used to seeing from their home side.

In action earlier in the weekend, Velez Sarsfield just simply could not put away Newell's Old Boys on Friday night. Velez had the lead twice in the match, but Newell was able to find an equalizer both times as the teams finished with a 2-2 score. Nueva Chicago was just too strong for upstart Colon, as Chicago won the match 1-0, thanks to a goal by Ariel Jesus in the 36th minute of that match that was played on Saturday. The rest of the Clausura fixtures are right here. Match day 3 will begin on Tuesday.
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Saturday:
Banfield 0-1 Belgrano
Union 2-2 Chacarita JUNIORS

Sunday:
Estudiantes LA PLATA 3-2 Gimnasia La Plata
Rosario Central 2-1 Argentinos Juniors

[PopA]

didn't river win like...... 5-0 today...im not sure i was watching the Roma vs Barcelona game.... i heard something like that..... osvaldo mentioned something about river kickin somebody's ass today..... juan let me know will ya?

[valdanito]

02/20/2002. Alberto "El Beto" Acosta two second half goals led San Lorenzo past a tough Banfield unit on Tuesday night at the "Nuevo Gasómetro" in Almagro, Argentina. Despite giving up two goals, Banfield keeper Cristian Lucchetti played a very good match. Lucchetti stopped a penalty kick in the 54th minute of the match, but San Lorenzo was not to be denied. With the victory, the "el Ciclón" moved on top of the table. However River Plate is the only team that can go ahead of the Los Cuervos, will play on Wednesday evening against Union of Córdoba at the "El Monumental" of River Plate.

In other action on Tuesday, Belgrano de Córdoba won their second straight match as they defeated Velez Sarsfield by the score of 2-1. Both teams scored in the first half, but in the 66 minute, Sebastian Brusco received a through ball from Mariano Guzman and beat Velez net minder, Gaston Sessa, for the goal ahead goal. Things did get a little rough for the "Los Piratas", as the Córdobans had to finish with a man down. Frank Pacheco received a red card in the 86th minute of the match, but the "Los Piratas" held on for the much needed victory. With the win, Belgrano was able to move out the relegation zone for the time being.

Lanus won their first match of the 2002 Clausura, as the "Los Granatos" took out Huracan 2-0. The "Los Granatos" started out with the lead with Hernan Pages goal in the 2nd minute of the match. Then Diego Bustos sealed the victory, with a goal in the 62nd minute. With the lost, Huracan is slipping closer to the relegation picture. They will need to do much better or they will find themselves down in the La Segunda.

thats all i got!

[PopA]

i find that recently i've lost interest in argentinan football. Maybe it's because i'm following Serie A alot more nowadays.... i should start watching argentinan football again....it's the best football this side of the pond!

[valdanito]

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[PopA]

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[King Italy]

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[ItalianBoy]

Hey guys! How is Maxi lopez, Cornejo, D'Alessandro, And also Cavenaghi playing!? Let me know. Any other interesting young players!? Let me know here! thanks

[valdanito]

cavenaghi scored a hat trick!


Friday:
Vélez Sarsfield 2-1 San Lorenzo

Saturday:
Huracan 3-0 Argentinos Juniors

Sunday:
Nueva Chicago - Chacarita (Suspended)
Union 2-1 Lanus
Newell's Old Boys 3-1 Racing Club
Talleres 2-1 Rosario Central
Banfield 2-1 Colon
Independiente 2-0 Belgrano
Estudiantes La Plata 2-3 River Plate
Boca Juniors 1-1 Gimnasia La Plata

[valdanito]

03/04/2002. The Boca Juniors missed a chance to reduce their 4-point deficit behind River Plate in the 2002 Clausura table, in their 1-1 tie with the Chacarita Juniors. River Plate, who is banged up after their Copa Libertadores loss to Club America on last Thursday evening, squeaked out a scoreless draw against Nueva Chicago. Boca started the day in the second position, but had many crowd problems that affected the flow of the match. First of all, the match had to be moved to San Lorenzo's Nuevo Gasómetro, because of fear of fan clashes occurring. Then in the first 10 minutes of the match, Chacarita Juniors' fans scuffled with the police, who wouldn't allow the fans to bring in their banners and flags to support their team. This incident delayed the match for 20 minutes. Then later on after the match was started back up again, photographers walked onto the pitch after being pelted with debris from fans in the stands. This incident didn't delay the match as long as the first incident, but both definitely had a bearing on the match. Boca scored first right before the end of the first half, by Christian Gimenez. However Leonardo Oscar Mas was able to put in the equalizer for the "Los Funebreros" in the 75th minute.

Out of the 10 matches that were played over the weekend, there were only 4 winners. Newel's Old Boys did take advantage of both Boca and River slip ups. Newel's has won three straight matches, including Sunday's match with Belgrano in "El Gigante" in Córdoba with the score of 1-0. Maximiliano "Maxi" Rodriguez became a goat in the first half, when he missed a penalty kick in the 35th minute, but Maxi redeemed himself when he scored at the end of the first half. Newell's had to hold off a feisty Belgrano attack in the second half, in order to obtain the victory.

On Saturday Road Warriors' Independiente won their second road match of the young season, by defeating San Lorenzo 1-0. The Diablo Rojos are trying to stay in the race for the top spot, moved in a third place tie with Boca and Huracan. San Lorenzo has slipped into the middle of the table, after losing their last two matches of the Clausura. Could this be the affect of a Libertadores' hangover?

Racing won their first match of the Clausura, by shutting out Talleres of Córdoba 3-0. For the rest of the weekend's action, check below:

Friday:
Racing Club 3–0 Talleres

Saturday:
Colon 1–1 Velez Sarsfield
Argentinos Juniors 1-1 Union
San Lorenzo 0–1 Independiente

Sunday:
Belgrano 0-1 Newell's Old Boys
Rosario Central 0-2 Huracan
Lanus 1-1 Estudiantes La Plata
Gimnasia La Plata 1–1 Banfield
Chacarita Juniors 1-1 Boca Juniors
River Plate 0-0 Nueva Chicago

well what can i say! boca has striker problems, 100 chances and could finish it

[valdanito]

03/04/2002. Argentine officials will meet on Tuesday to determine the cancellation of the 2002 Clausura because of the violence that has happened already this year and the fact that the biggest Derby of Argentina, Boca Juniors and River Plate, was tainted in just a Summer tournament in January.

Both teams were scheduled to meet this Sunday and has prompted Minister of the Interior, Rodolfo Gabrielli to meet with the Minister of Security, the Minister of sports, Daniel Scioli, and with the head of Cabinet, Jorge Capitanich. These people will analyze the events that have occurred already this year and weigh the importance of continuing the season. This would be a significant blow to the psyche of the Argentine people, who are very emotional about their domestic football in their country. However, the violence has escalated in recent weeks, with perhaps the worse event occurring during the Avellaneda derby between Racing Club and Independiente, when those teams' fans where shooting at each other with guns and the end result was that one person had died and 20 others were wounded. This past Sunday, there were several different incidents to report about and all left scores of wounded people. Fortunately there were no deaths to report. However, the government wants to stop the violence. It is unknown about the effect the impending outcome will have on the teams participating in the Copa Libertadores. There haven't been any major incidents that have been reported during the Argentine based matches.


i hate this

[valdanito]

03/29/2002. By far the biggest surprise has been the play of Gimnasia La Plata. With Carlos "El Lobo" Ramacciotti replacing Carlos Griguol as the Technical Director at the beginning of the season, the Los Triperos are now in a position to compete for the Clausura Championship. Still there is much soccer to be played, but Gimnasia is only 3 points off of River Plate tail for the top spot. Also in the general table of the 2001/2002 seasons, Gimnasia is in 4th position. The significance of this fact is that the Los Triperos are closing in on a Copa Libertadores spot. However, the three teams in front are River Plate, San Lorenzo, and the Boca Juniors. Racing Club has already secured one of the four spots, by winning the 2001 Apertura. So if the "Los Triperos" want to go to the Ultimate South American Club Championship, they will probably have to win the Clausura. This week Gimnasia will have to travel to the Estadio Nuevo Gasómetro of San Lorenzo. The Los Triperos will need to bring home some points to stay pace with River Plate. One thing in the Los Triperos favor is the fact that they are riding high on a 7 match unbeaten streak. Gimnasia will be trying to free up striker Facundo Sava. Sava leads the team in goals, with 8 on the season so far and is currently in second in the scoring leaders of the Clausura. San Lorenzo will be up for the challenge, as the Los Cuervos want to show that they are still formidable squad that has Championship qualities.

Also River Plate will have a tough road match, as the Los Millonairos travel to Rosario to play the Newell's Old Boys. Newell's started the Clausura strong, but has fallen off of River's pace by failing to win in the last 4 matches and only winning 2 of their last 6. Fortunately for Newell's, River comes into the match a little banged up, as Cristian Ledesma will be out due to an ankle injury. Ledesma wouldn't be able to play anyway, because he had to serve a suspension due to a red card that he received in round 7. Also, Andrés D´Alessandro will have to sit for yellow accumulation. Ariel Ortega has a slight muscle pull in his right thigh, but El Burrito (as he is called by everyone) said that he would play on Sunday.

The Boca Junior have fallen on hard times recently, due in part of Juan Roman Riquelme being out because of injury, hopes that Riquelme can play on Sunday against Talleres in the La Bombonera. This will be very favorable for the Los Xeneizes, now that Guillermo Barros Schelotto has knee problems as well. Talleres of Córdoba are in a free fall at the moment, winning only 1 of the last 5. The Córdoban squad will need to do something quick or forget the Clausura all together. Talleres has already been bumped out of the Libertadores. So at the moment, it's about pride for Talleres. The other team from Córdoba, Belgrano is totally in shambles. On Thursday the club released Thursday the trainer Carlos Javier Mac Allister, after the heels of the lost to Gimnasia, in which Belgrano gave up a two-goal lead and lost the match. The Los Paratas are looking at the prospect of playing in the La Segunda next season, if things don't change quickly. First on their priorities is to find a head coach. Belgrano will host Union of Santa Fe on Sunday.

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Round 10 match-ups:

Friday:
Colon Santa Fe – Racing Club

Saturday:
Velez Sarsfield - Argentinos Juniors
Independiente - Lanus
Banfield – Rosario Central

Sunday:
Newell's Old Boys - River Plate
Nueva Chicago - Chacarita Juniors
San Lorenzo - Gimnasia La Plata
Belgrano - Union
Estudiantes La Plata – Boca Juniors

[valdanito]

04/07/2002. Boca Juniors shorten the distance between them and River Plate in the Clausura standings, thanks to a 3-0 win over lowly Union. A few of weeks ago they were in 10th position, now Boca finds themselves in second position, as they past Gimnasia La Plata on goal differential. Gimnasia got bounce around by Racing Club 3-2. River survived their trip to San Lorenzo battling to a scoreless draw. However, their lead over Boca now is only 3 points. Boca just simply took advantage of Union's current plight, as they the Los Xeneizes were led by goals from Marcelo Delgado (7'), Hector Bracamonte (34'), and Juan Roman Riquelme (60'). The lost was Darío Kudeika first one as he took over the head coaching reigns for Union. It appears that he will have a lot of time to fine tune his skills in the La Segunda.

River Plate traveled to the Estadio Nuevo Gasómetro of San Lorenzo. San Lorenzo would need to score a victory, so they could climb back into the Championship race. However, both teams missed many opportunities as they played to a scoreless draw. It seems that the biggest opportunity was for River, because earlier on Sunday Gimnasia had lost to Racing. The Los Triperos played the worse possible match they could possibly dream up, as they finished the match with only 10 men. Gimnasia goalkeeper, Guillermo
Hernando received a red card in the 36th minute in the match. The match was over by halftime, when the teams went into the locker room with the score at 2-0 in the favor of Racing. Gimnasia did score two second half goals, but the last came in the 93rd minute of the match, as Racing just wanted to leave La Plata with the result.

Talleres and Independiente both lost on Saturday, as those teams are among the worst at the moment. Things are so bad for Talleres at the moment, that Head Coach, Mario Ballarino wanted to quit on Thursday. However the president of the club, Carlos Dosetti, would not allow Ballarino to leave until the end of the season. Talleres qualified for the Copa Libertadores, despite finishing the 2001 Apertura in last place. Now Talleres are now finding themselves dropping to the bottom, losing their last 5 Clausura matches. Velez Sarsfied took advatange of slumping Talleres by posting a 2-0 win over the squad from Córdoba. Independiente looks like the club is on their last legs, as the Diablos rojos lost another coach and are now left with a two-headed monster as a head coach. This time the Diablos rojos lost at home to Rosario Central 4-1.

Two teams that look like they are turning things around are Belgrano. Tomás Cuellar has been in charge for a week now, and the club has two of their last three matches. The match that the Los Piratas didn't get was last Wednesday against River Plate. Even then, they gave the Clausura leaders all the trouble that they could handle. Sunday the Los Piratas took out Lanus with the score of 1-0. Mauro Obolo scored his second goal in as many matches, in the 45th minute. With the lead, Belgrano just defused any attack that Lanus had to offer. For the rest of this weekend's action, check it out below:

Friday:
Banfield 0-0 Huracan

Saturday:
Velez Sarsfield 2-0 Talleres
Independiente 1-4 Rosario Central

Sunday:
Newell's Old Boys 2-1 Argentinos Juniors
Nueva Chicago 1-0 Estudiantes La Plata
San Lorenzo 0-0 River Plate
Gimnasia La Plata 2-3 Racing Club
Belgrano 1-0 Lanus
Colon 1-1 Chacarita Juniors
Boca Juniors 3–0 Union


Live Scores


Newcastle 1
Fulham 1


Sampdoria 0
Genoa 0

[castroman]

Boca are just 3 points away from river! after like having a 10 point gap!
what a team!

[valdanito]

04/26/2002. After this weekend, there will be only 3 more rounds in the Clausura, which means teams like Boca Juniors and Racing Club will need to run the table just to be considered the Champions of the 2002 Clausura. All of the top four teams have results pending, due to suspended matches last week due to fan violence getting out of control. The River Plate-Racing Club match is no doubt the biggest one of the weekend. Racing Club is currently 6 points behind River, so they will need the win. Racing will be coming to the El Monumental at a very opportunistic moment. River's squad will be in a world of hurt after a very disappointing week, after the lose to Gremio of Brazil in the Copa Libertadores. Adding to the misery is the fact that the Los Millonarios will be without the services of Maximiliano Lopez (Red Card on 4/21) and Ariel Garce (yellow card accumulation). Lopez is primarily a backup for Ariel "El Burrito" Ortega, which presents a very difficult situation for Ramon Diaz. El Burrito is hurt at the moment with a hamstring pull and will not be able to suit up on Sunday. Also Daniel Esnaider is banged up and might not be able to suit up. Diaz is looking to little used Nelson Cuevas to pick up the slack. Unfortunately for him, he will have to adjust to the pressure of one of the biggest matches of the season for the Los Millonarios.

Gimnasia La Plata even thought looks for another slip up from River, needs to concentrate in their match with the Argentinos Juniors. The Bicho Colorado doesn't give up many goals and have a good balance on the pitch in their attack and defensive flow. Also, the Bicho Colorado is at the bottom of the Relegation zone, so the Argentinos will be very hungry, as they will come full force to remain in the La Primera. The Los Triperos of Gimnasia will definitely need to take care of business. The Argentina Futbol Association (AFA) might be award the three points to River from their match against the Los Triperos on April 17th. The match was suspended with a minute left in regulation, due to fan violence. That minute and any injury time will have to be played, unless the AFA rules that there is no time for that match to be carried out. The later might be the case, due to the World Cup starting next month. So the Los Triperos will definitely have to play the best they have ever played in their club history. The Club has never won either the Clausura or the Apertura.

Boca Juniors on the other hand seems to have the world caving in on them. The Los Xeneizes were lucky to have the match against Racing Club called off, because they have played 15 matches while River and Gimnasia has a match in hand. Also, Racing Club would be even with them in the standings. Then there is the availability of Juan Roman Riquelme. Clearly Boca isn't the same team without him. Ever since the kidnapping of his younger brother, Riquelme hasn't been the same. There have been rumors that Romy, as he affectionately called by his fans, will be departing the Los Xeneizes to play with Atletico Madrid. Boca will play Banfield this weekend, which won't be an easy task. Banfield has showed that the club can hold it's own against the stars of Argentine Futbol, while they lack the resources of the big clubs. Banfield has fought to get out of the relegation zone. There is plenty of more action in store this weekend in the Clausura. The weekend fixtures are listed down below:

Friday:
San Lorenzo - Talleres

Saturday:
Belgrano - Huracan
Independiente - Estudiantes La Plata
Colon - Rosario Central

Sunday:
Banfield - Boca Juniors
Gimnasia La Plata - Argentinos Juniors
River Plate - Racing Club
Velez Sarsfield - Nueva Chicago
Chacarita Juniors - Lanus
Newell's Old Boys - Union

[valdanito]

04/29/2002. River Plate defeated Racing Club 1-0 in the jammed packed Estadio El Monumental on Sunday afternoon in Buenos Aires. The game was very exciting, despite what the score line might suggest. In the first half, River came out in a 3-6-1 formation, as Ramon Diaz wanted to insert Nelson Cuevas later in the match to use his speed as a late advantage. The strategy worked as River out shot Racing 7 to 1 in the first half. River held the possession longer, but Racing was able to create some very lethal counterattack situation. However, both goalkeepers, Angel Comizzo and Gustavo Campagnuolo, dominated the pitch and the teams went into the locker room with goose eggs on the scoreboard. In the second half, both teams took more chances to get the ball into their opponent's net. Diaz inserted Cuevas in the 62nd which gave the Los Millonarios two forwards up front, but Racing took advantage of one less midfielder and looked for their first win at the Estadio El Monumental in 25 years, as the Academia applied more pressure on River's backline. So the roles of the teams had reversed and it was River looking to create counterattacks. In the 85th minute Racing lost a little bit of steam in their attack as Adrian Bastia received his second yellow card in the match. Then 5 minutes later Comizzo received a mysterious red card, before a set piece of Racing in front of the River penalty area. River had used up all of their substitutions and Martin Demichelis had to step in between the pipes for the Los Millonarios. Campagnuolo stepped out of his box to take part in the set play. Racing made a bad play, as Gerardo Bedoya's free kicked sailed straight into the River wall. River kicked the ball out and found Cuevas open with space in the center of the pitch. Cuevas got to the Racing penalty area at the same time as Campagnuolo, however Campagnuolo didn't wait for Cuevas to enter the area and dove for the ball. A heads up Cuevas moved to his right and got passed Campagnuolo, then calmly put the ball into the back of the net for the win. The Los Millonairos fans were hysterical and one can believed that they partied well into the night as River pulled the victory out of the magician's hat.

River needed the victory as Gimnasia La Plata destroyed the Argentinos Juniors 3-0 in the Estadio Juan Carlos Zerillo of La Plata. The scores came from Facundo Sava (20) and Mariano Messera (60, 64) of the Los Triperos. Also the result almost guaranteed the Argentinos that they will be playing in the La Segunda next season. Gimnasia's slim championship hopes remain alive with the victory. The Los Triperos are the only team to threaten River for the title, as the Boca Juniors fell apart in their visit to Banfield. Roberto Abbondancieri and Juan Roman Riquelme were shown red in the first half of their match and Walter Jimenez scored the game's only goal in the 30th minute, as Banfield went on to defeat the two time South American Champion's 1-0. The loss pretty much destroyed any hope for Boca had about catching River in the standings.

Friday:
San Lorenzo 3-1 Talleres

Saturday:
Belgrano 0-1 Huracan
Independiente 0-0 Estudiantes La Plata
Colon 2-2 Rosario Central

Sunday:
Banfield 1-0 Boca Juniors
Gimnasia La Plata 3-0 Argentinos Juniors
River Plate 1-0 Racing Club
Velez Sarsfield 2-1 Nueva Chicago
Chacarita Juniors 1-1 Lanus
Newell's Old Boys 0-2 Union

[valdanito]

05/05/2002. River Plate slipped a bit on Sunday, in their visit to Lanus. The Los Millonarios maintain a one-point lead in the standings of the Clausura and need to remain focus on keeping that lead, especially after their recent bouncing out of the Copa Libertadores. However, River wasn't able to stay focus and Lanus was able to take advantage of key personnel missing for the Los Millonarios lineup. Lanus delivered a nice 1-0 victory to their home fans and helped to maintain the hopes of remaining in the La Primera. At the moment they are just below Nueva Chicago on the Relegation table, located in position 17. The team needed to gain any type of points from the result on Sunday. Lucky for them, Mauricio Romero was able to score in the 44th minute and River just didn't have legs after Thursday's lost to Gremio to find the equalizer. River wasn't able to deploy defensive regulars Angel Comizzo (Red Card against Racing) and Ricardo Rojas (Yellow Card accumulation) and this cause a little bit confusion in the back.

Fortunately for River, the Los Triperos of Gimnasia La Plata got smacked around as well. If River returns to their normal class and wins the Clausura, one can bet that the Los Millonarios will be inviting Rosario Central for their magnificent 2-0 victory over the Los Triperos on the day. Both of the scores came from Luciano Figueroa in the 21st and 32nd minutes of the match. The match was indicative of the strategies that Cesar Luis Menotti can deploy and the Los Triperos are looking to be doomed as permanent has nots of Argentine Football.

Back to the wonderful world of the blessed, Boca Juniors returned to winning ways as they defeated Velez Sarsfield in the La Bombonera on Sunday by the score of 2-1. Hector Bracamonte gave the Los Xeneizes the lead in the 25th minute, with. However Leonardo Gracian was able to provide Velez with the equalizer in the 56th minute of the match. Then with 5 minutes of time left on the clock, Cristian Gimenez scored the winning goal. With the win Boca moves back into 3rd position in the standings, just 3 points behind River. It should be noted that the Los Xeneizes will be ready to pounce on any further misfortune that Gimnasia and River has in the remaining two rounds of the Clausura. The remainders of this weekend's fixtures are list below.

Friday:
Racing Club 0-0 Banfield

Saturday:
Nueva Chicago 1-1 Independiente
Argentinos Juniors 3-2 Chacarita Juniors
Union 1-0 Belgrano

Sunday:
Lanus 1-0 River Plate
Huracan 1-1 San Lorenzo
Rosario Central 2-0 Gimnasia La Plata
Boca Juniors 2-1 Velez Sarsfield
Estudiantes La Plata 3-3 Newell's Old Boys
Talleres 0-3 Colon

[valdanito]

river won thats all there is to sayy....