Independiente had a new manager in the dugout but for much of Sunday’s match against Olimpo little had changed. Under Mauricio Pellegrino El Rojo still looked a threat going forward but were often at sixes and sevens defensively just as they were under Jorge Almirón and although Federico Mancuello was missing, it was the individual talents of Martín Benítez that stole all three points. Colombian striker José Valencia was given a rare start alongside Lucas Albertengo in a 4-4-2 in the first change of Pellegrino’s era and repaid the faith shown in him by sliding in Jesús Méndez’s low cross. However, the same old vulnerabilities were immediately on show when Joel Acosta ghosted in behind the defence and slotted underneath Diego Rodríguez. After the break it was the home side that looked most likely to score but they struggled to break down the visitors until Benítez latched on to a weak clearing header and fired a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. The best was to come and with minutes remaining, Matías Pisano dashed towards the box before laying it off to Benítez, who danced between two or three Olimpo defenders before confidently stroking the ball past Nereo Champagne into the top corner. There is still a great deal to work on but Pellegrino needed to get off to a winning start. The future of Mancuello remains undecided but Independiente should have new faces in the training ground this week and can hopefully begin to look upwards.
Earlier in Mataderos, Nueva Chicago’s wait for a first Primera win of the season continued after they were held to a goalless draw by Colón. It was the visitors who were perhaps the more deserving and with no improvement from Chicago there spell in the top flight looks destined to be a short one.
golazo argentino 