Racing and a tough defeat that did not let him be the only leader :: Olé

Racing arrived at the Lanús Fortress ready to engage definitively. Costas’ team, the one with tremendous numbers and good feelings, had one game left before going on vacation as the great candidate to win this Professional League. The highest scoring team that did not score goals suffered a bath of realism in the South: In this Argentine soccer there are no teams that parade in a championship as can happen in Europe. Here everyone can lose to everyone. And even more so if too much hand is involved and some headlines are missing.

Racing lost 2-0 with Lanús and it is possible that it will not close the semester as a leader. You will have to wait for resultsbut the biggest blow to the Academy was not statistical. He won’t get revenge quickly (football will only return in five weeks) and he left the image he least wanted. That of a team that when it loses, loses badly. And it hurts. and he feels it. And it does not find solutions in deep replacement. Grana, always better off, with more momentum and football, ended up making a price for them.

Without Arias, Di Cesare or Nardoni, the entire defensive structure of the Academy suffered. Cambeses, Colombo and Zuculini did not live up to the headlines. The goalkeeper had started well, but he made a huge mistake again and his crystal confidence collapsed. At 19′ from ST, another long rebound from a shot that was not dangerous (the same as against Talleres de Escalada), ended up giving the local team the second goal, the one that gave the sentence. Before and after, Costas’ team had been apathetic, slow, lacking in aggressiveness and even occupying their positions on the field poorly. The DT tried his hand and it went wrong. Very badly.

The 3-4-3 that was expected from Racing ended up being a 5-3-2 at the beginning that made water. The middle zone was never well stopped. Baltasar Rodríguez, supposed insider on the left, always stayed halfway. He wasn’t a hitter either, he was far from the goal and didn’t give a hand in the recovery. From there Lanús began to win it. Winning the midfield with more intensity. The duo Loaiza and Pérez had more than one march more than Almendra and Zuculini (how low the captain of the Academy is!).

This time, The still leader of the tournament was also unable to appeal to the balls for his two forwards. They left few and imprecise. The most striking thing is that neither Salas nor Maravillas had a chance to score.. The brave 7 was barely able to get Luciatti warned in the only one he won. And on the 9th, off and perhaps affected by his ankle injury that forced him to stop with Riestra, he ended up leaving in the second half without any pain or glory.

In the 90 minutes, Lanús was superior although it was difficult for them to open the game. Only at 44, in a free kick that should have also meant Gabriel Rojas’ second yellow card, Carrera was able to score a great header to make it 1-0. That goal, at the end of the first half, ended up being vital.

A reaction is expected from Racing that never came. Costas never removed Sosa from the defense, who was crying out to go up instead of Zuculiniand without presence in the middle what had been a very good team became a little team.

The stoppage will be good for Racing to regroup the troops, add some reinforcements and face the second semester with the objectives intact. But a game like yesterday, in Sudamericana, is elimination…