Atlético Tucumán is not only located in the north geographically but also in the positions of the Professional League championship after beating Estudiantes, from La Plata, 3-1 this Sunday, at the José Fierro, to remain the only leader in the tournament with two units above Boca Juniors.
The people of Tucuman, through the decisions of their coach, Lucas Pusineri, were able to make up for the lack of absences due to the absences of two mainstays in the defense, such as goalkeeper Carlos Lampe (called up by the Bolivian national team) and captain Bruno Bianchi (with five yellow cards) and a key man in the attack like Cristian Menéndez (sent off the previous day against Argentinos Juniors in a 2-1 draw at La Paternal).
Of course, the overall performance of the team was not good, but that lack of brilliance hit the nose with the effectiveness and pragmatism that usually characterizes the “Dean” to resolve the matches in his favor without exercising a clear superiority over the rival on duty. .
And in fact it was almost half an hour into the first half and the applauded Ricardo Zielinski’s Students (even during the course of the match) for his successful past in the local club insinuated himself slightly superior in development and created a couple of well-resolved situations by Romas Marchiri from Mendoza, Lampe’s replacement.
But after 28 minutes and in a sporadic attack, the Albicelestes took the lead with a low shot from Mateo Coronel, a figure on the field with an active and vital participation in the three goals of his team.
The stadium, crowded as always with “senior” fans, exploded as at the beginning and the night seemed to be heading for a new end to the party, because after that conquest, Estudiantes seemed touched and did not approach the goal of the former Gimnasja y Esgrima, from Mendoza.
But four minutes after the epilogue of that initial stage and as a paradox of fate, the other great applause of the night, the Tucuman “fan” of Atlético, Leandro Díaz, put his head so that the teams went to the halftime break with the even score.
With Jonathan Sandoval, replacement of the also suspended for five yellow cards, right-back Martín Garay, leaving injured 25 minutes into the first half, Pusineri continued to make repairs in the second stage, but always betting on the winner, and with the entry of Augusto Lotti , relegated lately by the youthful Ignacio Maestro Puch (19 years old) (Ramiro Ruiz Rodríguez is also still out) was right.
It is that in the first one that he played at 13 minutes Lotti invoiced with the second goal after a precise assist from Coronel, and he celebrated furiously, surely to take revenge for this time of postponement on the substitute bench.
And not only with that was the former Racing Club left, but about half an hour later and before a penalty committed against the decisive Colonel, he asked the subsequent penalty kick to the person in charge of executing it, Ramiro Carrera, who gave it to him so that he could put the final 3-1 with a low and tight shot to the right by Mariano Andújar, who like fellow veteran Mauro Boselli at the other end of the team, failed in both areas.
The story was already over, the celebration was moving because Atlético Tucumán remains at the top with six dates to go in the contest, it is in the Copa Sudamericana qualifying zone but, fundamentally, it dreams big, with a title that does not sound so utopian despite the fact that the immediate pursuers are nothing less than Boca and Racing (he will visit him in Avellaneda in three days).
But for now, what comes to the “Dean” is Board of Trustees, in Paraná, while Estudiantes, which is five points behind the last one that qualifies for the Libertadores 2023, none other than its neighbor Gimnasia y Esgrima, will receive in La Silver to Columbus.
Synthesis
Atlético Tucumán: Tomás Marchiori; Jonathan Sandoval, Nicolás Thaller, Manuel Capasso and Matías Orihuela; Francisco Di Franco, Ramiro Carrera, Guillermo Acosta and Joaquín Pereyra; Mateo Coronel and Ignacio Maestro Puch. DT: Lucas Pusineri.
Students (LP): Mariano Andújar; Leonardo Godoy, Jorge Morel, Fabián Noguera and Emmanuel Mas; Manuel Castro, Fernando Zuqui, Jorge Rodríguez and Leonardo Heredia; Leandro Diaz and Mauro Boselli. DT: Ricardo Zielinski.
Goals in the first half: 28m. Colonel (AT) and 41m. Diaz (E).
Goals in the second half: 13m. and 31m. Lotti (AT), the second penalty kick.
Change in the first half: 25m. Renzo Tesuri for Sandoval (AT).
Changes in the second half: 10m. Nicolás Romero for Capasso (AT) and Augusto Lotti for Maestro Puch (AT); 23m. Pablo Piatti for Heredia (AT), 30m. Benjamin Rollheiser by Zuqui (E), 36m. Agustín Lagos for Coronel (AT) and Andrés Balanta for Di Franco (AT), 41m. Mateo Pellegrino for Godoy (E) and Hernán Toledo for Castro (E).
Admonished: Acosta, Coronel and Thaller (AT). Piatti (E).
Field: Atletico Tucuman.
Referee: Dario Herrera.
