There’s no way. No way to keep up with Vélez. The sensational team built by Gustavo Quinteros danced around Estudiantes, came up very short with the result, and pulled six points ahead of their pursuers, Huracán, Talleres, and Unión de Santa Fe. Thus, with the victory, the Fortín fed statistics that impress: it has gone ten matches unbeaten in the Professional League, with nine wins and one draw. And in those nine victories, they haven’t conceded any goals.
Vélez –
Vélez’s victory against Estudiantes
Everything that happened in Liniers during the first half was a total injustice. That Vélez went into the locker room ahead with only one goal that stemmed from a blooper by Mansilla, a colossal mistake largely forced by Braian Romero with his cunning to pressure the goalkeeper during the build-up, was a real tripping of a rebellious fate. Because the difference was very slim in relation to the development. And because the Fortín not only earned the necessary merits to win by a wider margin, but also did everything possible to score a much more aesthetically pleasing goal. Pizzini’s impressive backheel after a cross from Aquino deserved to kiss the net, but the post condemned an extraordinary play to oblivion. The exquisite free kick that Aquino himself struck against the post also deserved to explode the José Amalfitani filled with fans and football, although the post again played the role of the villain in the movie projected on the Liniers grass.
It was a sin that several great plays created by Quinteros’s team ended up as nothing due to the caprices of fortune or, also, by bad decisions of their own. But unpredictability is the essence, perhaps the heart that has always given life to football. A sport in which forgiveness is not a virtue but a sin that is often paid with capital punishment. And something like that could have happened to Vélez, who wasted several very clear situations and walked on the edge of a tie when the Pincha managed to escape the siege.
Estudiantes got a bit closer in the second half
In the second half, the story was different. Domínguez didn’t have to make changes to alter his team’s stance. Estudiantes came out pushing with a level of determination and aggression that they had not shown in the first half of the match. But the momentum of an emboldened Pincha lasted barely a quarter of an hour. The fuel ran out because the La Plata team came from a first half in which they burned a lot of fuel running after the ball and dancing to the beat of a Vélez that imposed its rules, set the music, the tempo, and also marked the rhythm of the spring night in Liniers. An evening that ended in total celebration when Romero sealed the second to close the place down.
Braian Romero –
Romero stole the ball from Mansilla and scored the 1-0 for Vélez
This Fortín plays a lot when Pizzini, Aquino, and Thiago Fernández come together, along with Ordóñez, who steps away from the double pivot to integrate into the creation circuit. All of them form a limited liability society, which at times comes together, associates, and even has fun, spreading that joy to the outside. It is no coincidence that this team, which plays by heart, has accumulated 13 games without losing at home, with ten victories and three draws. It is also not a coincidence that the Pincha, who recently celebrated being champions, is now going through a small crisis generated by six matches without celebrating, with two ties and four losses.
Vélez, which will face Independiente on Friday in the quarter-finals of the Argentine Cup at Lanús’ field, is more of a leader than ever. And it deserves it: it plays like a great team.
A very particular celebration
Claudio Aquino –