The relegation battle certainly appears more interesting than it has in recent years but Newell’s Old Boys may not be involved if they maintain their current form. La Lepra swept aside Huracán at the Estadio Marcelo Bielsa on Sunday afternoon and a third win in four games has pulled Newell’s clear of the drop zone.

It remains incredibly tight for now however with Rosario Central sharing the points with relegation rivals Colón in Santa Fe to leave little between a group of five or six sides bobbing above Gimnasia and Central Córdoba in the third and final spot.

Newell’s made a perfect start against Huracán with Mauro Formica latching on to Jerónimo Cacciabue’s through ball to find the bottom corner but the opening stages were an open, error-strewn affair. Having survived one blunder by Alan Aguerre that saw Andrés Chávez rattle the crossbar, Newell’s found their lead cancelled out when a wayward Cristian Lema pass fell to Fernando Coniglio and the Huracán striker’s shot ballooned off Santiago Gentiletti to lob Aguerre.

Lema made amends almost immediately with a towering header to restore the advantage and Newell’s began to take a firmer grip on the game. Angelo Gabrielli’s deflected shot extended the lead midway through the second half and when Walter Pérez pulled down Lucas Albertengo in stoppage time, the Huracán defender was not only sent off it allowed Lema to slot in his second of the game.

Newell’s move clear of the relegation zone and don’t look like candidates for the drop but the same could probably be said of Patronato after their win over Independiente on Saturday and local rivals Rosario Central.

El Canalla are yet to lose this season but had to settle for a point from their trip to Santa Fe. Colón’s run to the Copa Sudamericana semi-final papers over what is a worrying league run and although Rodrigo Aliendro earned El Sabalero the lead after 19 minutes, a huge error gifted Central an equaliser. Goalkeeper Leonardo Burián dallied on the ball and once Lucas Gamba charged it down the forward simply rolled it to Claudio Riaño to tap in.

Neither side could find a winner and it leaves Central occupying the final relegation spot, a point behind Colón and Banfield.

Newell’s Old Boys  4 – 1  Huracán

Colón  1 – 1  Rosario Central

Aldosivi will also be looking over their shoulder after slipping into the relegation picture due to a poor start to the campaign.

However, it was anything but a poor start in Córdoba on Sunday as Nazareno Solis raced clear to give Aldosivi a one-nil lead over Talleres in the opening minute.

That didn’t hold for El Tiburón with Nahuel Bustos clipping Talleres a level, a week after the youngster did the same against River Plate, and before the break Jonathan Menéndez volleyed a second to turn things around.

Both sides had chances but with a third win of the season Talleres climbed to third in the table. Leapfrogging Arsenal who suffered defeat away to Atlético Tucumán. The newly promoted club began with three straight wins but have been brought back down to earth with back-to-back losses and a Copa Argentina exit in midweek.

A thumping Marcelo Ortiz header gave Atlético a deserved first half lead and even after seeing Javier Toledo sent off soon after the break, the home side were able to hold out fairly comfortably.

Arsenal will be hoping they can get back on track after the international break to avoid getting sucked into the relegation picture.

Talleres  2 – 1  Aldosivi

Atlético Tucumán  1 – 0  Arsenal de Sarandí