The leader and undefeated Racing crushed Sarmiento de Junín 4-1 at home, with goals from Enzo Copetti (28m. ST and 48m. ST) and Tomás Chancalay (38m. ST), from penalties, and Javier Correa (49m. ST ) after being down by Julián Brea’s goal (32m. PT), in the framework of the eighth date of zone A of the Professional League Cup.
With this victory, Racing adds 18 points -five wins and three draws- in the tournament and Sarmiento has 11 units but fell into the relegation zone.
In the previous three tributes were given: to the late Juan Carlos Cárdenas, scorer of the goal that gave Racing the Intercontinental Cup in 1967; to Lisandro López, an icon of the Avellaneda entity now in Sarmiento, and to the combatants in Malvinas, on the 40th anniversary of the war.
Racing owned everything at the beginning, with intensity in each sector of the field and with the premise of the ball on the floor in the hands of its midfielders, led by Leonel Miranda.
Sarmiento, for his part, applied a rigid scheme with two lines of four but with the sole mission of interfering in the effective system of the premises, which he clearly dominated.
In fact, Fernando Gago’s team had four corners in less than 10 minutes and in the last one they did not get the 1-0 because Lisandro López took it off the line after a shot by Aníbal Moreno.
Racing kept his idea with incredible dynamics, to the point that he had six opportunities in a short time and touched 85 percent of the possession.
On the other hand, Sarmiento did not bother Gastón Gómez that passage of the match and suffered from the direct game, with skipping the midline and a wasted Julián Brea on the band -many times he was closed and that earned him the challenge of coach Israel Damonte-.
The irony of the development occurred at 32 minutes when Brea, already running on the left flank, lowered a past center, controlled and settled for his right leg: 1 to 0 and surprise in Avellaneda.
Racing, wounded in its pride, reacted quickly and completely invaded the Juninense field with Gabriel Hauche on the right flank, with Carlos Alcaraz in the center – he always won the duel against Harrison Mancilla – and Facundo Mura climbed.
At the end of the first half, the first situation in which the VAR system intervened occurred, when Alcaraz finished off and the ball hit Manuel Guanini’s abdomen, although due to the movement the referee Fernando Rapallini saw a penalty and admonished the visiting defender.
The call from the cabin where the VAR referee Ariel Penel was located arrived and after the review the two sanctions were annulled in the face of the protest of all the racing players.
There were no changes at the dawn of the second, Racing always imposed numerical superiority and repeatedly hurt Mura and the entered Eugenio Mena on the sides.
The “Academy” showed patience and cornered Sarmiento, already with 10 men on the court due to the expulsion of Guido Mainero, who completely resigned the little offensive aspiration in the complement when he saw himself at a disadvantage.
The prize finally came for Racing when Enzo Copetti connected with a header in front of the gaze of goalkeeper Josué Ayala, who was stuck at the near post and then with a penalty converted by Chancalay after Emiliano Méndez’s hand.
In closing, Racing found Copetti again and a perfect definition from Javier Correa to give him a dream ending to the afternoon. Everything that he could not in the first half he found when the clock became a new rival. The merit of the premises went through trying in each passage with clear and firm ideas before a petty and austere rival approach.
