Saturday, October 24, 2009

The Giant Storms The Fort

I love it when I'm forced to eat my own words. Earlier this week I wrote about how I haven't been convinced of the quality of one Antonio Joaquín Boghossian (at 6'5" he's a giant for a futbol player,) so what happens this evening? He scores twice, and hits the crossbar once, all while using the feet that I said were good for nothing but standing on while he headed the ball... leading Newell's to a 2-1 win over away to Vélez Sarsfield, where La Lepra had not won 2003, when we won 3-0. This marks only the 7th time we've managed a win away to El Fortin.

Now, I'm not going to do a complete turn around here. Sure, Boghossian played one hell of a game tonight, but he also completely whiffed on a couple of chances as well. Not that he was the only one, as Sánchez Prette did not have his best game today... which isn't to say he was bad, just not as effective as he has been.

The best player for Newell's today was veteran Rolando Schiavi. Not only was he his usual stalwart self on defense, but he also made his presence known at the other end, setting up Bogho's first goal.

There were a couple of changes from the team that beat Estudiantes last week. Machuca was back in defense, while Nahuel Roselli moved up to the right side of midfield in place of Franco Dolci. Dolci hadn't been played badly, really, but I would say he's been our weakest player over all. I did like what I saw of Roselli in midfield today. For the second half he moved back to defense, as Formica came on at the half for Machuca.

Of course, having said all that, mid week Dolci will start and end up being the best player on the field against Racing Club...

I also have to mention that I was far from impressed with referee Javier Collado. Early in the first half he called a foul on Newell's as two players stripped a Vélez defender of the ball just outside of the Vélez penalty area. From what I could see it looked clean, and Sensini seemed to agree. He voiced his displeasure, and Collado tossed him for his trouble.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. While Collado didn't call a penalty in the first half when a Vélez player went down inside of Newell's penalty area, he didn't pull a yellow for diving... which he later would do when Achucarro went down in Vélez's area in the second half, which looked like a legit foul to me. He also didn't call for a penalty when Boghossian nearly got a hold of a long ball sent into the area, but was held back as the Vélez defender had a firm hold of his jersey.

Not that Vélez didn't have cause to complain, either. Late in the second half, Vélez had a free kick just outside and to the right of Newell's area, and the ensuing cross appeared to have been deflected by Formica's hand.

Still, the questionable calls, in all, seemed to favor Vélez more than they did Newell's, which, once the game ended, only makes this win that much sweeter. (If anyone can tell me just why Collado carded Peratta, please do. I'm still scratching my head over that one.) The only thing that was missing was a princess to save, and a Spaniard seeking revenge on a six fingered man to turn this win into a fairy tale.

2 comments:

Jeremy said...

Man that was some fast crow eating. Great game. I'm hoping San Lorenzo and Colon tie tomorrow.

I'm still bitter looking at the table and seeing Banfield even on points. We should have taken a draw out of that match.

At least Favale recused himself, although Collada was hardly any better. I believe the yellow to Peratta was for running his mouth.

Remember a few years back under Nery Pumpido when Newell's went 14 games without winning? Collada was the ref that gave yellows to the whole team when they finally won a game and took off their shirts in celebration. Jerk.

David Phillips said...

Thanks for the explanation on the Peratta yellow, Jeremy. I knew of Collada's bias against us before hand, but didn't recall him being the bastard that had carded the entire team...

I also noted that when the teams had made there way onto the pitch, but before the kick-off, Velez's captain had a nice little chat with Collada. When they were done, Collada turned to Newell's side of the field, and while I couldn't hear him, nor read his lips, my impression was that he was telling them that he didn't want to hear anything out of them.

Simply put, this guy shouldn't be refing, not even at the lowest amateur levels. What's weird is that I'm more angry about having him as an official last night right now than I was while watching the game...