Banfield made it three wins from three on Friday evening as Javier Sanguinetti’s side came from behind to defeat Rosario Central 4-2.
A wonderful Martín Payero effort clattered the crossbar to almost give Banfield a perfect start at the Gigante de Arroyito but they would instead find themselves one-down when Emiliano Vecchio steered in his second of the tournament to give Central the lead.
Yet the return of Mauricio Cuero has transformed the Banfield attack and the Colombian’s powerful run down the right set up an almost instant equaliser for Agustín Fontana.
There was nothing as sophisticated for Banfield’s second before the break though, goalkeeper Mauricio Arboleda’s long punt downfield reaching Fabián Bordagaray to allow the forward to slot the ball in.
A completely unmarked Giuliano Galoppo was able to deservedly head Banfield further in front and the impressive Cuero made certain of victory dashing in behind the Central defence to make it four.
Fabián Rinaudo’s thunderous long range strike reduced the deficit in stoppage time but made no impact on the result. The Taladro will be confident of progressing to the Fase Campeonato after a perfect, if somewhat surprising, start to the season. River Plate play Godoy Cruz on Saturday night aiming to keep pace with the leaders in Group 3.
Rosario Central 2 – 4 Banfield
Atlético Tucumán may have had the disappointment of their Copa Sudamericana exit but like Banfield have made a 100% start to the domestic campaign. Unión, who progressed in the Sudamericana, were the visitors on Friday evening but couldn’t prevent Atlético chalking up a third straight win.
After a first half in which Unión had a goal harshly ruled out for offside and Atlético saw a Leonardo Heredia penalty saved it was difficult to predict who would come out on top but minutes after the restart Heredia made amends for his earlier miss with a towering headed goal.
One quickly became two as within a minute Javier Toledo, guilty of a glaring miss in the first 45 minutes, let fly from 40-plus yards out and managed to catch Sebastián Moyano off his line.
The game’s second penalty allowed Gabriel Carabajal to pull one back for Unión and the visitors pushed for an equaliser. Unable to find a way past Cristian Lucchetti, the veteran goalkeeper then helped Atlético seal victory in stoppage time. Lucchetti’s route one approach was flicked on by Toledo and substitute Matías Alustiza added a third.
Racing and Arsenal play on Saturday with both sides desperate to keep pace with at least Unión in second.
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