Estudiantes Wipe The Smiles From Our Faces

Yes, Sensini was all smiles before the match as his current club, Newell's Old Boys, squared off against one of the teams he had previously coached, Estudiantes La Plata. Roberto, by the end of the match with Newell's losing 2-0 in a poor performance, could you still smile? Granted, it was an away game, against a quality opponent. Saying that Newell's missed captain Rolando Schiavi on defense, and striker Joaquín Boghossian still does not make it easy to swallow this defeat. Is there cause for any Lepra anywhere to smile today?

La Pincha truly had the best of the play, and deserve their win. As expected, Newell's did play a 4-4-2, but Vangioni was not part of the back line, he was in midfield where he belongs. Juan Quiroga was at left back. Here, then, is how the team lined up for the beginning of the match.

Peratta
Roselli, Alayes, Insaurralde, Quiroga
Formica, Bernardi, Estigarribia, Vangioni
Achucarro, Núñez

In hindsight, perhaps the team would have been better off had Hugo Barrientos started in place of Estigarribia, or perhaps had they stuck to a 3-4-1-2 formation with Machuca joining the backline. Truth is, Newell's simply could not solve La Pinchas defense. Not surprising, really, when you consider that Agustín Alayes could not earn a starting spot on the team, which is part of why he accepted his move to Newell's.

Estudiantes' first goal was created as an own goal against Nahuel Roselli, but the real culprit in my eyes was Cristian Nuñez, who leapt over the the incoming corner as it came down, Roselli hardly had a chance to spot the ball before it struck him and entered the net. Had he simply stayed on the ground, Nuñez should have easily cleared the ball. For those who can stomach seeing them again, here are the goals from the match:

The final score could well have been worst, really, if not for the heroics of Sebastián Peratta, who put in another strong performance. Looking over the course of the Clausura, it seems as though Newell's are faltering, but that well may be due to how well things went for the team during the Apertura. We fans tend to forget that while Newell's ended up in second place, only a point off of champions Banfield, they did so while winning a few games that did not play well in. The Clausura has not been so kind in to us in that respect.

Up next, the completion of the Argentinos Jrs - Newell's match on Wednesday, suspended due to rain with the score at 0-0 with about 30 minutes to play. After that, Newell's host Vélez Sarsfield next weekend.