Two Points Tossed To The Wind

Sunday afternoon Newell's Old Boys went to Mendoza in first place tied with Vélez Sarsfield. At the end of the day their 1-1 draw with hosts Godoy Cruz gave them a one point lead in the standings, and for that I am happy. The way we tossed away what should have been a win, however, has me disappointed. I'm not the only feeling that way, either. Newell's coach Gerardo Martino expressed his feelings about the game known, and he was far from happy with the way we let this one slip away.

Newell's were up 1-0 at half time from a brilliant 10th minute goal from league leader Ignacio Scocco, with his 9th of the year. We also had a man advantage after Jorge Curbelo was red carded from a vicious foul on Maxi Rodriguez in the 41st minute. Had we kept playing the way we had in the first half victory would have been relatively easy. That was not to pass.

In the second half Newell's played poorly, letting more room than a team down a man should have had. In the 79th minute Nahuel Guzmán made a poor save on a shot taken by Alexis Castro just inside the penalty area. The ensuing rebound was pounced on by Mauro Obolo. There was little that Guzmán could have done at that point, but I am left wondering, as well as Guzmán has played, why Sebastián Peratta is still sitting on the bench.



Up next, Newell's will be hosting Quilmes on Friday. Due to the kick off time of the match, I will probably miss most of it, if not all.