Agustín Bouzat’s two goals in the final minutes eliminated Boca Juniors from the Argentine Cup, in a dramatic outcome at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium in Córdoba. Despite the remarkable comeback of the Boca team, whose effort initially led them to overcome the disadvantage, the victory finally went to Vélez Sarsfield.
”We made a lot of mistakes, it can’t happen and that makes me very angry. We were left with one less and the team had the courage and the will to go for the result. We took the lead and from that point on, I wanted to close the game, to end the situation with one less man. Unfortunately, we are leaving with a result that hurts and leaves us without the possibility of reaching a final,” was Fernando Gago’s first analysis at the press conference.
The match began with Vélez taking the lead thanks to a goal from Franco Pizzini and an own goal from Jorge Figal. Against these adversities, Boca did not take long to respond and despite being left with one less player at the beginning of the second half, after the expulsion of Luis Advíncula, the team managed to win with goals from Edinson Cavani, Exequiel Zeballos, and Tomás Belmonte. The effort seemed to lead them to the final, but the former Boca player, Agustín Bouzat, emerged in the last five minutes to seal a definitive 4-3 in favor of Vélez Sarsfield, which will define the contest on December 11 against Central Córdoba de Santiago del Estero.
As soon as Boca turned the score around and with ten minutes left, Gago ordered the entry of the central marker Di Lollo and midfielder Milton Delgado, instead of Edinson Cavani and Changuito Zeballos. Regarding what he was looking for with these changes, the coach responded: “They had two nines and an extra player, we were finding ourselves in very complicated situations when we were down on the scoreboard. When we took the lead I thought we had to close the game with one less. Yes, it is true that we lost more than we had been doing, but it was logical with the result that the team tries to maintain it.”
Likewise, the coach had no qualms about criticizing Luis Advíncula for his expulsion: “He did make a mistake and, unfortunately, he left the team with one less, but hey, these are game situations that must be overcome. We will try to correct the mistakes and not make them again, we have to learn from that. We have the chance again of a match on Sunday, we will try to find a victory that will make us go up to qualify for the Copa Libertadores.”
When returning to the questioned modifications, Pintita denied that this had made Vélez bigger. “I don’t associate it with the change itself. Being with the score against and one more player, it is obvious that they are going to position themselves to attack higher. With nine minutes left, the game has to be over. That’s what we try and look for. Given the circumstances of what we were playing, if we were with the score in our favor, am I going to leave three forwards up? “It’s not the right thing to do, we looked for it like that, the game was already closed.”
Finally, thinking about the near future and the great objective that will be to qualify for the next Copa Libertadores by annual table, Fernando Gago assured: “We are going to continue working trying to find what I want, a team that has a game identity and build. Obviously the blow is strong, now we have revenge on Sunday (against Gimnasia at home), from that, look for a positive result. It is a time for the coaching staff, players, and club to focus and see what we want for these next games.”
