Gastón Verón, the Argentinos Juniors midfielder, rescued a point for his side by scoring the equalizer in the 74th minute against Gimnasia La Plata (1-1), in a Torneo Clausura fixture played on Sunday in which the La Paternal side spent more than 45 minutes with a man down.
A draw that weighs on the table
With this result, Argentinos Juniors have now gone five matches without a win, with a recent record of 0W-3D-2L (DDLDL, most recent first) according to the official match data. The point adds little following the 2-0 defeat at River Plate and the 0-0 draw with Barracas Central, though N. Diez's side showed defensive resolve despite playing short-handed.
The red card that changed the game
The referee sent off S. Prieto in the 41st minute for a serious foul, leaving Argentinos Juniors with ten men before halftime. Manager Diez reacted immediately, bringing on Emiliano Sebastian Viveros Mereles for G. Florentín and Claudio Bravo for K. Coronel right at the start of the second half to reshape the back line.
Match report
Gimnasia La Plata, managed by A. Pereyra, took the lead in the 26th minute through Agustín Auzmendi, set up by Ignacio Fernández. The forward exploited a defensive gap to beat goalkeeper B. Cortés and make it 1-0 before the half-hour mark.
Argentinos Juniors did not fold despite being a man short. In the 74th minute, Gastón Verón finished off an assist from Tomas Molina to make it 1-1, a goal that mattered given the physical toll of playing down a man since the sending-off.
Official statistics show the home side dominated the ball despite their numerical disadvantage: Argentinos Juniors had 64% possession and fired 14 shots (2 on target), compared to Gimnasia's 9 attempts (also 2 on target). The hosts also won 6 corners to the visitors' 3, though they committed only 6 fouls against Gimnasia's 16, with the away side finishing the match with four yellow cards to Argentinos' one.
What comes next
Argentinos Juniors' next assignment can be tracked on the fixtures page, which lists the remaining Clausura opponents, while the club's league position is updated on the standings table. Individual numbers for the squad, including Verón and Molina, are available in the stats section.
