Huracán accentuated their dreams of fighting for the title by beating Newell’s Old Boys 1-0 at home, in a match on the 15th date of the Professional Soccer League tournament.
The only goal of the match, played at the Tomás Adolfo Ducó and refereed by Jorge Baliño, was scored by Matías Cóccaro, from a penalty kick, 26 minutes into the second half.
With the victory, Huracán reached 27 units and, although with one more match, it was two behind the point guard, Atlético Tucumán (29), and one behind the escort, Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (28), who will face Barracas on Tuesday Central and Aldosivi respectively.
Newell’s, who came from beating Lanús to end a streak of eight games without victories, remains eleventh with 20.
Huracán began the game with a sustained siege on Newell’s goal and, between good combinations, search by the two sides and the mobility of his attacking men, he generated a very clear situation to take advantage.
It was after three minutes, after a corner from Cristaldo, when Pizarro appeared alone and unmarked in the middle of the area and, with Morales already defeated, he defined incredibly wide.
The local maintained the attitude during the subsequent passages. But the Rosario team, which began to approach with attempts from afar (a shot by Sordo just wide, another by Balzi that Chaves took off, one by Aguirre very close to the crossbar), managed to balance.
Then the game became very entertaining: they shared possession, they settled into the different moments of the game (attack or against) and both had scoring chances.
The clearest were for the “Globo”: a shot outside Garré after an overflow and center behind Cabral; and a play that Hezze started with an exceptional cut in defense and ended with a “popcorn” at the hands of Morales (the center called for a volley).
In the last quarter of an hour, shorter, Huracán accentuated its superiority, although it was not enough to break the zero. Newell’s, meanwhile, continued their bad run of injuries and Javier Sanguinetti had to make two changes before reaching the break.
The Rosario team improved notably in the complement and began to dominate the ball, but without depth to reach the goal of Chaves with danger. His main resource, as before, were the shots from outside the area, but without precision.
Just beyond 15 minutes, Hurricane managed to match the actions. But he hadn’t done too much in front of the rival’s three posts either when he took advantage: González wanted to clear a rebound in the area, Benítez needed it, Baliño charged the corresponding penalty and Cóccaro, from 12 steps, was reunited with the goal with a strong right hand, up, for 1 to 0 at 26m.
Diego Dabove’s team, after that, controlled the advantage with intelligence and clarity, although Newell’s tried to go for a tie. The game was then locked, friction, without scoring plays, a scenario that “Globo” took advantage of to secure the three points, get closer to the top and continue dreaming.
On the next day, the 16th, Huracán will visit Arsenal in Sarandí (Friday from 9:00 pm) and Newell’s will receive Godoy Cruz de Mendoza (Saturday from 3:30 pm).
