Newell's Steamroll Over Colón

After watching Newell's Old Boys destroy Colón de Santa Fe 5-0 I have to ask: just what has woken La Lepra up this late in the Clausura? Sure, Los Sabaleros were playing with out there best forwards, including their best goal scorer Oscar Fuertes, but that only explains why they didn't cause Sebastián Peratta many problems.

No, this was Newell's day, it's as simple as that. Every starter played to the best of their ability, no one more so than Joaquín Boghossian. The first time he put the ball in the back of the goal was called back due to two of his team mates being offsides. That didn't keep the big man from playing his best game in months, and, with service reminiscent of that which he got during the Apertura, he scored a pair of headers, the game's first and final goals to bookend the three others. He also narrowly missed lobbing a shot off a rebound that would have had Colón's keeper Diego Pozo beat by a mile. Not bad for a player who might not have been playing had Cristian Nuñez not been suspended for his red card during last week's Clasico Rosarino.

Mauricio Sperdutti scored the second goal with a golazo, Mauro Fórmica scored off a beautiful freekick for the third, while Jorge Achucarro notched the fourth. I'm disappointed for Leonel Vangioni, who has yet to notch a goal this season. He's come close several times, and against Colón he rang one off the crossbar.

Raúl Villalba looked like he's a player ready to become a force. He only started because both Diego Mateo and Lucas Bernardi weren't available, but as a lone holding midfielder he handled himself well, made a number of dangerous passes, and took a couple of shots from distance that weren't too far off the mark. With the two veterans in front of him, it may be a while before he can crack the starting 11 on a regular basis, but he'll only turn 21 this September, so he's got plenty of time.

Peratta spent more time taking goal kicks and punting the ball forward than he did making saves. He was credited with making three, but those were so easy he didn't even have to make moves on them. Still, he's one of my favorite players, so how can I not write a few word, and post a picture of him?

Perhaps even more impressive than the five goals was that this is, if I'm not mistaken, the first match I've seen Newell's play were not one of their players received a card. It's not that Juan Carlos Loustau didn't call any fouls (five against Newell's, eight for Colón,) but that none really deserved a carding. Two were doled out to Colón players, but I only recall Maximiliano Caire's, who was called for a hand ball when he seemed to intentionally punch the ball out of bounds rather than vie with a Newell's player who was rushing down the right wing (it was either Sperdutti, or Achucarro, I'm not sure.) The carding wasn't for the hand ball, however, but for protesting that he had struck it accidently.

With the team playing so poorly for much of the Clausura, it's good to get a blow out win. With luck Newell's can still end up in the top five, provided they win their final three matches. For now, let's enjoy today's goals again:


Next match with be on Thursday, April 29th when Newell's again travel to Buenos Aires to face Arsenal de Sarandí.