He avoided a historic mark. Six of the twelve editions in the modern era of the Argentine Cup exhibited a quick elimination in the round of 16 for River or Boca. The peculiarity is that both never said goodbye in that instance of the same season, a situation that could arise in the event that Xeneize fell at the hands of Almirante Brown in the contest played at the Malvinas Argentinas stadium in Mendoza, the venue that had hosted Temperley hit the Núñez club.
Despite an imprecise start, the firepower of the forward duo made up of Miguel Merentiel and Edinson Cavani allowed the La Ribera club to unblock the development: a goal per side for the 2-1 victory (Santiago Vera discounted) and the consequent qualification to meet for the second consecutive time with Talleres in the Round of 16.
Scorer of the Argentine Cup in the 2012-2013 season with five goals, Daniel Bazán Vera transformed that auspicious experience into the knowledge necessary to implement a successful strategy in the first half of the match.
The coach opted for a 4-4-2 without a fixed attack reference but with individual imbalance and voracity for pressure after loss. The daring of Tomás Díaz and Santiago Vera, both in individual dribbles and in medium-distance attempts, woke up the supporters who had traveled from Isidro Casanova with the hope of reaching the Round of 16 of the competition for the first time.
What was the only debt for Mirasol? Capitalize on the favorable development with the concretization of the advantage since, with the exception of a header from Facundo Miño that went next to the goal, it did not worry Sergio Romero with greater risk.
With Gary Medel absent due to not having authorization from Vasco da Gama, Boca presented its best available players (Luis Advíncula is part of the Peruvian squad that will compete in the Copa América) with the aim of avoiding surprises that would lead to a quick elimination.
Beyond the usual intention of turning the game to the left and capitalizing on the combinations between Lautaro Blanco and Kevin Zenón, Xeneize lacked the necessary precision to impose conditions in its fifth appearance in Mendoza for the competition.
However, the technical ability of its performers would be enough to hit in the last action of the initial stage. Cristian Lema recovered the ball in a one-on-one against Leandro Iglesias, Cristian Medina commanded the counterattack and enabled Miguel Merentiel, who broke Ramiro Martínez’s resistance with a right cross and repeated the conversion from his debut against Central Norte de Salta.
Bazán Vera sought to add offensive weight to the team at halftime with the entry of Samuel Portillo, one of the reinforcements arriving for the next semester, in place of Iglesias. The problem for Almirante Brown was that the need to seek a tie forced him to advance in an uncoordinated manner, which is why gaps were generated in his last line that would be taken advantage of by Boca.
After a warning from Kevin Zenón, who hit the ball over Martínez but ran into a magnificent bicycle kick by Miño, Xeneize used a crucial interception by Ezequiel Fernández in the middle of the field to create a action that ended with an umpteenth combination between the Uruguayan forwards: a pass from Merentiel and a touch into the net from Cavani, who reached Milton Giménez in the lead of the scoring table of the twelfth edition with three goals.
Although he felt the blow of the increase in distance on the scoreboard, Almirante Brown revived from the modifications and reached the well-deserved stoppage time. A cross from Natán Acosta found the mischief of Vera, who capitalized on the weak reaction of the admitted Lautaro Di Lollo and beat his back to head into the net.
It was a reward for the effort of the representative of the First National, who will keep the score pending to overcome the 16th of the Final, an instance that he played again after a decade (he had lost against San Lorenzo). Boca regained its temper in the epilogue, avoided new shocks and guaranteed its fifth consecutive presence in the 16 best of the competition that saw it establish itself in the 2011-2012, 2014-2015 and 2020 seasons.
Talleres, an opponent whom they defeated precisely in their last trophy victory, will be the next obstacle that the team led by Diego Martínez must overcome.
