Tactical order, defensive solidity, character, effectiveness. Based on those four pillars, Boca achieved its fourth consecutive victory in the local tournament and put one and a half feet in the playoffs. With goals from Cristian Medina, Luca Langoni and Kevin Zenón, Diego Martínez’s team beat Newell’s 3-1 at Parque Independencia and will close the date in the qualification zone for the quarterfinals of the League Cup.
Diego Martínez’s team opened the scoring first and then justified the advantage. Well planted in the middle of the field, with Equi Fernández at a high level and an interesting version of Medina and Zenón, Boca took over the ball (they had 70% possession in the first half) and the territorial domain of the party. However, the first shot on goal was precisely the action of the goal. After a good collective play, Medinawho had started the play, captured a long rebound from goalkeeper Macagno in the area after a left-footed shot from Langoni and scored with a header to put Boca 1-0 up. The midfielder scored his second goal in the championship (the other, against River, in the Monumental) and he was the great figure of Boca in the victory against Leprosy.
From there, almost everything was Xeneize’s, which managed the timing of the game and generated two other clear situations to widen the difference. One at the feet of Langoni, who had already participated in Medina’s goal, and another at Zenón’s, with a very good performance on the left wing, both well resolved by Macagno, the best of an apathetic Newell’s that missed a chance only way to get close to the playoffs and everything will be played for everything on the last day against Defensa y Justicia, in Florencio Varela.
Boca no longer plays with the urgency or nervousness of other times. He faces the games with another poise, with another confidence, another security. Beyond the names and the system used, there is an idea that does not change. An increasingly oiled game model. An identity with a more elaborate collective game, which finds better endings with the participation of several players even in the same play. Blondel and Cavani were not in Rosario (injured); Pol Fernández played again, who had not been a starter since the fifth round; and ended up on the field with players like Valentini, Saracchi, Saralegui and Briasco, who had just faced Nacional in the 4,090 meters of Potosí, for the Copa Libertadores.
And the team, despite the discount in Julián Fernández’s time, he did not resent it. He gave up the ball, yes, some prominence, although he did not even suffer in the final moments of the game. One minute after Newell’s 2-1, Fabra escaped from the left and scored the goal for Zenón, which played first before Macagno’s departure. Yes, in speed and counterattack it is also dangerous.
Boca has an advantage over the rest of the entertainers in Zone B: He reached his peak performance in the final stretch of the championship. While teams like Lanús, Defensa y Justicia, Estudiantes and Newell’s itself let points slip away in climactic moments, Xeneize pocketed the last 12 in dispute and still owes the 63′ of the match against Pincha, which would be completed next Friday. That is to say: Boca still has a chance to finish first in its area.
The best of the match
Newell’s, on the other hand, left behind an undefeated six games; They lost at home again after the 1-0 loss against Central on the 7th round and will play in Varela with the calculator in hand and attentive to what happens in other stadiums. Éver Banega, who was returning from a four-game suspension due to his red card against Godoy Cruz, was overshadowed by the great performance of the Boca media and, stuck in his own field, he barely generated any danger with long shipments behind the backs of the Xeneizes center backs. , who responded well. He didn’t weigh. And Newell’s missed him.
It is enough for Boca to get four points out of six so as not to depend on other results. First they will visit Estudiantes in La Plata and then they will finish the regular stage at home to Godoy Cruz, which is already classified. In the middle this Tuesday will be the match against Sportivo Trinidense of Paraguay, for the Copa Sudamericana, although Martínez’s idea would be to preserve the starters again for the final dates of the League Cup.
The victory in Rosario gave oxygen to Boca both physically and statistically. He won by playing well, deservedly and against a direct rival whom he also surpassed in the table. He recovered Langoni at a key moment of the season (he had not converted since April 1, 2023, on the Barracas Central field) and Martínez, beyond some adjustments, trusts his starting eleven more than ever. The first goal of the semester is one step away from being achieved, although Boca, it is known, is prohibited from relaxing.