The first round of the Primera Nacional is coming to an end. The second category of Argentine soccer will have a stoppage and the clubs will be able to reinforce themselves for the second half of the tournament that will define the winners of each zone (they will face each other in a final for promotion) and those classified as low for a second promotion. In addition, it will also confirm the demotions.
To complete the initial round, they still need to play Gimnasia de Jujuy vs. Chacarita, Atlético Rafaela vs. Students from Río Cuarto and San Telmo vs. Aldosivi.
However, while waiting for these matches for the mid-tournament break, it can now be confirmed that only 2 teams received less than 10 goals in the first 19 rounds. Estudiantes de Caseros conceded 9 goals while San Martín de Tucumán only received 5.
Goals are not a minor fact in football and even less so on this occasion. In a tournament as close as the First National, the goal difference defines the positions in the classification table in the event of a tie in points. In that area, Colón is the best in the category so far with a +15 difference.
In terms of goal difference, “Santo” from Tucuman has +13 while Casero’s team is +6. In the table, San Martín is second in zone A with 36 units, below its San Juan namesake. For its part, Estudiantes is third in the same area with 31 points.
In zone B, the fight for first place is not only even in points but also in goals. Colón, leader of the group, has 38 points and a difference of +15 (27 GF – 12 GC). San Telmo is second with 36 units and one game less but a difference of +14 (24 GF – 10 GC).
Of the 9 goals that Pincha de Caseros received in the first round, 5 were on their field and 4 as a visitor. In no game did he concede more than 2 goals and he kept a clean sheet 12 times.
The “Santo” from Tucumán has not received goals since matchday 8 of the tournament when they lost to Chacarita 1-0. At home they scored only 2 goals in the same match and on the road they conceded the remaining 3.
Dario Sand goes for history
The goalkeeper of the Tucumán team, Darío Sand, goes for all the clean sheets records in Argentine football. This weekend he surpassed Carlos Barisio’s mark of 1,075 minutes without conceding a goal.
Darío Sand, Pepe’s brother, is going for a historical record in Argentine soccer. The San Martín goalkeeper needs 38 more minutes with a clean sheet to surpass Alejandro Otamendi, who has the record of going 1,115 minutes without conceding a goal in the same tournament and is a record in Argentine soccer. The mark was made in the 1994 Primera C championship, where Tristán Suárez’s goalkeeper was undefeated for 12 games and 35 minutes. Along the way, the mark of Daniel Tremonti, from Barracas Central, also appears, who had reached 1,113 undefeated minutes.
The definition of 2023
Last season, the goal difference was more than important for the definition of zone A of the Primera Nacional since 6 teams finished the tournament with the same points.
After an agonizing last date, Defensores de Belgrano, Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza, San Martín de San Juan, Temperley, Güemes (SdE) and Deportivo Morón finished the tournament with 53 units.
This is how zone A ended in the 2023 season. In the aforementioned order, they were placed from fifth to tenth in the table according to goal difference. Due to this measure, Güemes and Morón were left out of the reduced squad and thus ended their season.
Something similar happened in zone B with Quilmes and Atlético Rafaela. “Cervecero” placed fourth due to better goal difference and “Crema” placed fifth with the same points.
