Playing without injured striker Martin Palermo and not playing in the dominate fashion that they had enjoyed under Alfio Basile, Boca still have found a way to keep apace of the trailing pack. Going into Round 14 of Futbol Argentino, Boca has regained the top spot on 29 pts. with still a game in hand on River Plate and Estudiantes, who both sit just one point beneath Boca level on 28 pts.

The jury, however, is still out on Boca manager, La Volpe as Boca have stammered in the transition period between coaches, but they seem to have turned the corner and regained some of their confidence. Their convincing performance against Argentinos Juniors gave the faithful at La Bombonera some ease of mind as well as some breathing room for La Volpe, who is finding that the pressure of managing the Mexican National team is nothing in comparison to managing the fabled Buenos Aires club.

In the 1st half, Boca’s Juan Krupoviesa was denied a goal as Argentinos’ keeper did well to deny the defender’s well placed free-kick; however, Krupoviesa was not to be denied in the 41st min. as he crashed in with a header at the back post to take Boca into half-time with a goal cushion.

Boca continued to apply the pressure in the 2nd half and fellow defender, Daniel Diaz, was unlucky not to add to the score-line for Boca as his rasping right-footed free-kick was denied by the post.

Boca were rewarded in the 74th min., however, as striker Palencio turned provider, playing a neat ball across the goal for the on rushing Mauro Boselli to push home into the empty net. Argentinos Juniors fought back with a goal in the 86th min. to cut the lead in half at the end.    
    
Though Boca defeated Argentinos Juniors at the weekend and tied Racing Club in their make-up fixture on Wednesday, it was the inability of River Plate to not pull out a victory this past Sunday that placed Boca back in the driver’s seat. River Plate faced a tougher opponent in Independiente, but the story was not that exciting as they played out to a scoreless draw.

Estudiantes kept apace of the two usual suspects as they defeated Nueva Chicago. Striker Mariano Pavone put Estudiantes in the lead in the 18th min. with a pile driver of a left foot that he blasted upper 90 from just outside the 18. Nueva Chicago then provided a gift in the form of the own goal before Higuain the elder finished off a goal to cut the lead. Pavone then missed a spot kick at the end of the game, but Diego Simeone’s men walked away with all 3 pts.

This Sunday the pressure cooker is on as the race is so tight between the three. Boca face Arsenal in a tough match as Arsenal has played themselves into contention this season, sitting in 4th place on 25 pts. Estudiantes and River don’t have it any easier though as Veron and Co. play Velez Sarsfield while Gallardo and Co. play San Lorenzo.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 4th, 2006 at 4:41 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.