Five talking points from round six of the Argentinian Primera
1. Orión’s leg breaking tackle overshadows San Martín’s draw with Boca
Boca Juniors and Argentina goalkeeper, Agustín Orión has always been described as, at best, “ultra-competitve” and at worst a “nasty piece of work” and during Sunday’s 1-1 draw against San Martín, the 33-year-old found himself at the centre of controversy.
A lacklustre performance from Rodolfo Arruabarrena’s side despite Dani Osvaldo’s early penalty saw their unbeaten start to the season in real danger. Newly promoted San Martín sensed the possibility of an upset and after Marcos Figueroa poked the home side level the momentum suggested there would be only one winner. With the game level, San Martín striker Carlos Bueno burst through on the Boca goal and after tapping the ball past Orión, the keeper made absolutely sure that he would not pass him to score the winner.
Orión’s two-footed lunge did indeed stop Bueno but sadly left him with a fractured tibia and fibula. The Uruguayan striker was taken off in an ambulance and will not play again in six months and although Orión was shown a red card for the challenge it undoubtedly saved Boca from defeat. It was Orión’s second red card of the season, which after only five matches, is quite an impressive statistic and leaves the AFA with a decision to make on the length of his ban.
There has been talk that the goalkeeper maybe handed a six-match ban for the offence which could see him miss the superclásico over the first weekend of May. It is just as well that Boca brought in such an able deputy in Guillermo Sara over the summer otherwise the absence of Orión could have seriously derailed their title hopes.
2. Five sides still unbeaten – title challengers?
After six rounds there are still five sides yet to taste defeat and while three come as no surprise, one somewhat surprisingly leads the pack and another comes from the ten newly promoted sides. As already mentioned, Boca Juniors are one of those but given the status of the club, their kind fixture list and their impressive squad, this and a subsequent title challenge come as no surprise.
River Plate join them, in spite of their apparent crisis and while Sunday’s victory over Godoy Cruz was their first in the Monumental and far from vintage, Marcelo Gallardo’s side still find themselves in fifth just four points behind the leaders. All those that put money on River going one better than in the Transición need not tear up those betting slips just yet.
Lanús, like River, have hardly been impressive but as always under the stewardship of Guillermo Barros Schelotto are in the lead pack. Three wins and three draws, again mirroring River, saw them celebrate victory in front of their own fans for the first time in round six with the 2-0 win over Gimnasia. Question marks remain over their goal scoring ability as Lucas Melano’s four-goal haul in the thrashing of Godoy Cruz somewhat fudges the statistics but El Granate should remain a threat.
Which brings us to our leaders, who may have lost their 100% record on Sunday but once again came from behind and thanks to a Marco Ruben goal claimed a deserved point away to Atlético Rafaela. In Ruben they have the league’s leading marksman and in Franco Cervi, one of the most promising youngsters in the Primera. This, coupled with Eduardo Coudet’s ability to shore up the defence makes Central an increasingly dangerous opponent.
Lastly and more surprising are Unión who claimed their fifth straight draw away to Aldosivi on Monday evening and as a result remain unbeaten on their return to the top flight but are still only in fourteenth position. Having played Lanús, River Plate and Independiente this is an impressive record.
Ultimately, Unión have goals in the side which is why they are doing well and will have enough to survive. Victor Malcorra, Enrique Triverio and Lucas Gamba are all scoring and this separates them from most of the other promoted sides whose struggles in front of goal will almost undoubtedly lead to a relegation scrap.
3. Six without a win – relegation fodder?
Not even the long grass in Garupá has been able to help the bus company from Misiones pick up a first victory in the top flight and so the presence of Crucero del Norte among this group and favourites for relegation is no surprise. However, there are five others still waiting for the sweet taste of victory and only two come from the ten newly promoted sides so are they all in for a season long relegation dog-fight?
Nueva Chicago have perhaps fared a little better in terms of their competitiveness but results have been the same and if the season ended today it would be these two dropping straight back down to the Nacional B. If either are well clear come the end of the year it would be a real shock but there are plenty of other sides to be dragged in.
Colón look in a bad way and after dismissing manager Mostaza Merlo just a match into the season, results have not really improved. The 1-1 draw with Boca seems to have been a false dawn as they followed it up with a heavy loss away to Racing and it is certainly away from Santa Fe that Colón look most vulnerable. A dangerous mixture of conservatism with a porous defence gives them little chance of picking up points on the road.
Those three promoted sides are joined by Olimpo, Arsenal and Atlético Rafaela and while they have been equally poor unfortunately for the promoted sides they do have a slight advantage in the relegation table given their points tallies from previous season. Olimpo were always likely to be one of the established Primera sides to struggle after their impressive home form of early 2014 has slowly disappeared. Atlético Rafaela lost their main source of goals when Lucas Albertengo left for Independiente but it will be Martín Palermo most feeling the pressure at Arsenal. They have had a difficult set of fixtures but the performance in the most recent defeat to Independiente was as poor as any side in the Primera and if results do not turn around soon, the Boca legend could be the second manager out the door.
4. Huracán enjoyed a week off from Libertadores commitments with big win
No side can ever grumble about playing in the continents most important tournament but there can be little argument that the Copa Libertadores is proving to be a real drain on newly promoted Huracán’s squad. While most of the competitors in the Primera have played just the six competitive league matches this year, El Globo have already notched up double that amount and travelled to Peru, Brazil and Bolivia along the way.
On Saturday Huracán welcomed unbeaten Argentinos Juniors to the Estadio Ducó and for only the second time this season they had not played in midweek, giving them a full week of preparation. The result was a devastating home victory and local hero, Ramón ‘Wanchope’ Ábila hit a hat-trick as they simply blew Argentinos away in the opening thirty minutes.
It is no coincidence that the two victories that Huracán have claimed in 2015 have come on the weeks that they have not played Libertadores earlier in the week. The round of Primera matches before the group stages began El Globo enjoyed a 1-0 win over Arsenal at home but since then the hectic cup schedule has seen their form suffer.
Qualification for the knockout stages of the Libertadores perhaps hinges on their next match when Universitario visit the Ducó but with the small squad that Néstor Apuzzo has available it is likely that league form will continue to stutter as long as the side have hopes of progressing.
5. Independiente won in style at home but how dependent are they on Mancuello?
Independiente were able to release a little bit of the tension that was surrounding the club with a resounding victory over Arsenal in the Estadio Libertadores de América. After a draw and a defeat, the supporters had not yet celebrated victory in Avellaneda and so manager Jorge Almirón was feeling the heat. Thankfully a hapless Arsenal side arrived and were taken apart by an excellent performance, led as usual by Independiente captain, Federico Mancuello.
Mancuello smashed in the opener after just two minutes before goals from Claudio Riaño, Lucas Albertengo and Víctor Cuesta completed the rout.
Mancuello has been perhaps the best player in the Primera over the last nine months and has been rewarded with a call-up to Gerardo Martino’s national team squad but his personal gain is Independiente’s loss as they now head to Mendoza without their inspirational captain. Ten goals in the Transición and already three this season from his midfield position give an indication of his importance but there is far more to his role in the side than merely goals.
His absence will be felt by Jorge Almirón but there was a definite positive from the Arsenal match and that was the performance of Jesús Méndez. The 30-year-old midfielder only returned to the side the week before having been given time off after the suicide of his brother but on Saturday he produced probably his best performance in an Independiente shirt. Méndez is better known for his destructive play in central midfield but on Saturday he proved to be a potent creative force. An inch-perfect cross allowed Riaño to head in from close range and his outside of the boot pass for Albertengo was worthy of a goal in it’s own right.
All eyes will be on Méndez on Saturday night against Godoy Cruz in the absence of Mancuello. The responsibility to create chances for Riaño and Albertengo will fall to him and Matías Pisano.
