Drop the Superclásico and start over. Throw a party in the stands, resume the path of evolution that had been interrupted in the Monumental and win. Boca left behind the defeat with River and as if nothing had happened, faced the match with Belgrano focused on its two priority tournaments: the League and the Libertadores, especially. The triumph, then, has a lot of repair. And it also leaves good signs. The absences did not shine, the replacement responded and Dario Benedetto was reunited with the goal after the injury. It was a round night. He hit two shouts in five minutes, when the second half started, and even cut the result.
In front he had a poor rival. The Cordobans were overly cautious. They played so close to Nahuel Losada that they couldn't even fight back. And they ended up opening the door of victory to Boca with two unforced errors: first, a false start by Erick Godoy; Then, with a weak response from the archer. The second had a great intervention by Marcelo Weigandt and Luis Advíncula; also, the collaboration of Fernando Espinoza and the VAR. Because Martin Payero tried to push her before Benedetto. It was offside, of course. The concept does not change. Belgrano was never close to a draw. He didn't even finish off Chiquito Romero's goal.
Jorge Almirón needed the reconfiguration of the team not to generate a decrease in performance. The five casualties in Núñez (Nicolás Valentini, Miguel Merentiel, Equi and Pol Fernández plus Alan Varela) left him facing a challenge. And just as he chose to place Advíncula in the position of winger, a position that the Peruvian experienced in Sporting Cristal, he improvised with Cristian Medina in the function of central midfielder. And the kid became the owner of the midfield. In that 4-3-3, in addition, he rescued Oscar Romero, lately relegated. And the returns of Benedetto, Payero and Fabra gave him a plus.
However, in the first half he relied too much on a player who was always key. Especially, in the cycles of Sebastián Battaglia and Hugo Ibarra. It is Sebastián Villa. When the operation does not flow, the Colombian unbalances. And Boca's plan, which accumulated many passes but did not have so much dynamics in the initial stage, had a lot to do with the overflow of the attacker born in Bello, municipality of Antioquia.
On the left, Villa was influential. Also, Benedetto every time he left the area to connect. One of the clearest plays of the first half occurred with the meeting between the Colombian and the center forward. The center arrived, headed the Pipa and the ball was lost over the crossbar. The other that could have been a goal was diluted at the feet of Martín Payero. He was also an assist from Villa. The midfielder arrived well stepped into the area and defined high with the arch at his mercy.
Belgrano arrived at the Bombonera aboard the 4-4-2 in which he tried to recover and go long for Pablo Vegetti or Franco Jara, who threw himself to the wings, mainly on the right. A header from the captain of the Cordovan team was the most dangerous possibility. Afterwards, he devoted himself to defending. He handed the initiative to Boca, who came to round a possession of 75% in those forty-five minutes of opening.
Payero and Advíncula celebrate the former Banfield's goal.Photo: Maxi Failla
However, it lacked greater depth, despite the fact that several times Villa won the hand to hand to Juan Barinaga and that Fabra was once projected. On the other hand, in smaller quantity, Advíncula arrived or Marcelo Weigandt tried middle distance. On goal, there was only a weak shot by Romero that Nahuel Losada controlled.
Boca had no volume of play, but dominated Belgrano. But in the second half, he got off to a furious start with goals from Payero and Benedetto. And from that moment on, he grew up in the game. The entry of Esteban Rolón gave greater balance to the midfield. Medina played for a while in his natural position of intern and after a while Norberto Briasco entered. Advíncula was closed, very participatory outside and inside. He had two clear the Peruvian. In the first, he lacked greater aim. In the second, Losada blocked well.
Belgrano was barely unleashed with any individual maneuver of Ulises Sánchez. He produced two free kicks near the box and finished them over the crossbar. Nothing worked in Guillermo Farré's strategy.
Almirón, on the other hand, took the opportunity to give minutes to Pulpo González, return Agustín Sandez to the field after last week's penalty and bet on the goal that Luis Vázquez is desired. And if Villa had been finer in the definition, the win would not have been out of context.