Lanús missed a glorious chance to go top of the Transition championship as the side let slip an early lead to go down 4-1 to Independiente. The Red Devils’ exhilarating comeback win, meanwhile, leaves Jorge Almirón’s men still with an outside chance of making a late run for the title with three games still to play.
Sunday’s draw between River Plate and Olimpo had left the south Buenos Aires team with a chance of joining the Millionaires at the top of the table if they could overcome Independiente in Avellaneda. Apparently shrugging off a bruising defeat to Tigre last week, Lanús could hardly have wished for a better start.
With little more than two minutes on the clock the home team’s defensive woes were once more apparent as a disorganized backline let Lautaro Acosta break away on the left side of the field. The forward had space to operate but unselfishly squared for team-mate Silvio Romero, who converted a simple finish to give Lanús the lead and temporarily send them top.
The goal was the striker’s 10th of the Transitio, pulling him level with Racing Club’s Gustavo Bou and Teófilo Gutiérrez as the tournament’s top scorer.
And still in the first 10 minutes history almost repeated itself on the opposite flank. This time Lucas Melano wriggled free and sent in a low cross, but this time receiving Acosta could not take the ball cleanly and Independiente’s Alexis Zárate managed to pull off a hurried clearance to prevent the scoreline widening. That near-miss was the cue for the hosts to up their game, and the equalizer duly arrived.
Having saved a point midweek at Arsenal, burly centre-forward Sebastián Penco proved once more his goalscoring credentials with a powerful header that defeated Agustín Marchesín in the Lanús net, after a precise cross from Francisco Pizzini. After an apathetic start to the key championship clash, Almirón’s charge began to assert themselves while the ‘Grana’ failed to keep up the same tempo as the game wore on.
Marchesín later got down well to save a deflected shot from Matías Pisano, but the away defence was slow to react and Independiente funneled the rebound out to veteran playmaker Daniel Montenegro on the edge of the area. ‘Rolfi’ made no mistake with a stinging low drive that left the ‘keeper with no chance as he put his team in the lead and gave the star his landmark 100th goal in the Argentine top division just before the half-time break.
The second 45 minutes saw both teams pushing for more goals, but poor finishing afflicted the sides at each end of the pitch. Marchesín denied Pizzini early in the half, while Penco had his second effort in the net near the hour mark only to see the linesman’s offside flag rule out the strike. For Lanús, Diego Gonzalez should have leveled proceedings but a right-foot volley from close range flew agonizingly past Diego Rodríguez’s post.
In the final minutes, two decisive blows decided the encounter in favour of the Red Devils, enjoying a two-man advantage thanks to red cards for defenders Maximiliano Velázquez and Facundo Monteseirin on the Lanús side. Juan Martín Lucero appeared in the area two minutes from the end to take advantage of the depleted backline and slide home the third goal, and Victor Cuesta appeared with a late header to rub further salt in the wound and guarantee an impressive victory for the home team.
“We have let valuable points get away from us, but we are still confident. The will to win [the title] is still there,” Montenegro told reporters at the final whistle, signaling Independiente’s intent to fight for the championship until the bitter end.
Independiente’s win means that the order at the top of the Transition remains unchanged, with River leading the standings on 33 points and Racing chasing the Millionaires one point back. Lanús remain on 30, where they are joined on the same mark by the victors in Avellaneda.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald