Rosario Central defeated Velez 3 to 0 and now the tournament Professional Leaguewith eleven dates left, no longer has such a comfortable leader and Talleres was only three points away. Ignacio Malcorra, Agustín Sández y Kevin Ortiz They scored the goals. Damián Fernández was sent off and the Liniers team played 60 minutes with 10 men.
Vélez arrived at Gigante de Arroyito with the peace of mind of knowing that regardless of any result, he would continue to be at the top. But the pulse of the championship would change with a win or a loss. For the second round, most of the pursuers lost points, on Saturday Huracán tied, on Sunday Unión lost, and on Monday Racing tied and Atlético Tucumán lost. The exception was Talleres, which beat River 1-0 at the Monumental and was three points away. Now he is the only guard on Gustavo Quinteros’ team.
Vélez knew that the Central court was a complex scene, in the first game of a three-game series with a high degree of difficulty. Because on Saturday they will host Racing, which is still in the fight and then they will visit River. Although both are ahead in the international cups, the Academia in the Sudamericana and the Millonario in the Libertadores, they are two of the best teams in Argentine soccer.
The game belonged to Rosario Central, from start to finish. Photo: Sebastián Granata.
In addition to the tranquility that comes with six points of difference, as the date began, Vélez also put into play an undefeated record of twelve games (eleven wins and one draw) and six games in a row without conceding goals. For the rival, the extra motivation of stopping the pace of the best team of the year.
Due to the series of matches, coach Quinteros began a slight rotation, which is why Emanuel Mammana, Christian Ordoñez and Thiago Fernández did not play initially and Damián Fernández, Jalil Elías and Matías Pellegrini did. The idea was not to resent the structure too much. When he was still settling in, when Central was planning for an even and close game, an error at the start changed all the plans.
At 26 minutes, Vélez came out playing from the back, Marchiori played for Valentín Gómez, this one for Bouzat, who went back towards the position of Damián Fernández, who missed a time, Ignacio Malcorra beat him in speed and, in the area, He touched him above and destabilized him. Clear penalty and expulsion because the defender did not play the ball and directly turned it over. Malcorra did not fail and scored 1-0.
Vélez had not lost since matchday 5 and had six consecutive wins without conceding a goal. Photo: Sebastian Granata.
Quinteros reacted from the bench (Mammana came in and Pellegrini came out to maintain order in the background) and the team from the game that, even in numerical inferiority, was encouraged to look for a tie without giving up the weapons that took it to the top of the tournament. But in front of them they had a very focused, very motivated Rosario team, willing to define the duel out of conviction and taking advantage of the extra man.
The second half gained in intensity and was great. Vélez did not resign himself to returning empty-handed and came out determined to find an equalizer. He showed why he is well up there. In the first 15 minutes they cornered the home team and it didn’t seem like they were playing with a man less. Afterwards, the Scoundrel woke up to kill him. And it was back and forth, open, fought and with spaces.
Qiunteros looked for a new replacement with younger players over the veterans: Ordoñez, Thiago Fernández and Piñeiro entered for Bouzat, Aquino and Pizzini. The leader did not have time. Central began to resolve it after 30 minutes, after a corner from the left and an accurate header from Agustín Sandez. Afterwards, he had the luxury of constructing an unthinkable victory in the previous one, with Kevin Ortiz’s shot from the gate of the area. The 3-0 score was fair and gave more excitement to the tournament.
The standings after Vélez’s defeat in Rosario. Photo: via Promiedos.
