Boca Juniors go into Sunday’s Argentinean Classic against River Plate with a game-in-hand and a 4 pt. advantage over their red-and-white arch-rivals. Boca pulled off an epic victory over an inspired Velez side at the weekend, while River Plate tied 1-1 to mid-table team Belgrano.   

Velez came out and stunned the home crowd of La Bombonera by scoring two unanswered goals in the 1st half. While both teams created early chances, Velez scored their first goal in the 28th min. Defender, Maximiliano Pellegrino gave Velez the lead when he was rewarded forward for the corner-kick, with a thundering header past the Boca keeper.

Boca were punished again on the second goal for slack defending, as Mauro Zarate snuck into a great poaching position to glance in a header past the Boca keeper, inside the back post.

Controversy then ensued as Mauro Zarate simulated receiving an elbow, which resulted in a red-card for Boca defender, Juan Krupoviesa in the 40th min—the sending off electrified Boca’s play in the closing minutes before half-time.

Boca played some great attacking combination play having gone down a man, and Palermo came close to pulling one back, with a header that was saved by the Velez keeper.

Boca came out and continued to press Velez and was rewarded in the 57th min. when Fabian Cubero received a red-card for a tackle from behind on Martin Palermo. Boca finally pulled one back in the 70th min. when Fernando Gago ripped an incredible right-footed blast the screamed past the keeper and sent the Boca faithful into a frenzy.

Rodrigo Palacio then did the incredible with a brace of goals in the 76th and 89th min. to snatch victory for Boca. His first goal showed excellent touch and strength, as he settled, played himself in from a long chip, and bodied off a defender to strike past the helpless keeper. His second goal was another clinical finish from a tireless and prolific Boca attack. Velez then added insult to injury as they had another player sent-off in the final minute.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 7th, 2006 at 3:33 am and is filed under Soccer World, Argentina, Rick Wall (Head Editor). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.