Inspired Newell's Back On Top

For the moment Newell's Old Boys are in first place, having beaten Gimnasia La Plata 2-0 on goals from Mauro Fórmica and Joaquín Boghossian. That, of course, can change based on the result of the Banfield/Tigre match, which is being played as I write this, one eye on what I'm typing, the other on the match.


Mauro's goal was a brilliant freekick, blasted over the wall in the 15th minute. I can't say I saw it as it happened, as I was at work at the time. Damn, I hate the time difference, the match started at 7:10 PM local time, but that's 5:10 PM where I live.


Joaquín's goal once again saw the big man dancing with the ball at his feet before putting his shot past Gimnasia's keeper Gastón Sessa. That gives him 11 for the Apertura, with one match to go. This goal was also during the first half, scored in the 33rd minute, so I missed it as well.

By the time I got home, and loading up the game on the internet, it was about 15 minutes into the second half. (It's now half time at the Banfield match... 0-0.) From the half hour that I watched, Newell's played well enough to beat anyone tonight. The statistics I've seen agree with that, as Gimnasia only managed two shots, neither of them on target, while Newell's took a crack at goal five times, and all five were on the mark.

One thing weakness I have noticed has been a constant in Newell's play has been throw ins in the offensive third of the field. We seem to give up the ball on those almost every time. I suppose it's silly to complain about such a thing when the team has a record of 11 wins, 3 draws, and 3 loses, but I still think that one must always strive for perfection.

Taking a quick look at our poll for the best player of the Apertura, I see that Boghossian (pictured right) is tied with goalkeeper Sebastián Peratta with four votes each. Next is Achucarro with two votes, followed by Schiavi and Bernardi (pictured below) with one each. There's one match to go, but the poll will be open until the end of December, so plenty of time to cast your vote, and remember, write in votes may be cast by posting a comment.

Up next San Lorenzo in the last match of the Apertura (unless Newell's and Banfield are level on points.) Once the Banfield match is over, I'll post a quick note as to where things stand.