Boca beat Boca. Which is like saying that he won without playing well, without being liked and being little more than his rival. They defeated Ferro Carril Oeste 1-0 in La Rioja with a goal from Sebastián Villa in the 33rd minute of the second stage and advanced to the round of 16 of the Argentine Cup.
But the party did not leave much more than that. That the champion of the last two Argentine soccer cups, has not been able to highlight differences in the game to a team that appears in 22nd place in the table in the First National tournament, says more about how Boca played than what he could have done Ferro.
Sebastián Battaglia’s team failed to decode the simple scheme, waiting and quick balls to the bands, which the Caballito team proposed. Pol Fernández and Varela were well covered in the middle of the field and many times, due to the lack of mobility and spaces from the middle forward, Boca had to delay the game, facilitating the task of their rival. Ferro played it safe. And with Lautaro Giacone’s runs down the left he found a way to get to Rossi’s goal.
At 11 minutes into the first half, a crossed left-footed shot from forward “purslane” was sent to the corner by the Boca goalkeeper. And after 18 minutes and from a very closed position, a shot by Giacone himself hit the crossbar after a center by Ruiz Gómez from the right.
Boca depended on Villa’s runs and Fabra’s climbs to the left to get there. Vázquez practically did not enter the game and thrown on the right, Zeballos was not much sought after either. A bitten shot from outside the area by Pol Fernandez was the only xeneize situation in the first half that gradually faded away.
If Boca rebounded in the second stage, it was more because Ferro was running out of energy and could no longer sustain the game in the middle of the pitch, than because of a real improvement in his game. Villa missed two situations and goalkeeper Miño (who with his long serves put his forwards to run) got a good shot at the near post from Zeballos.
When a new definition by shots from the penalty spot seemed to be cut on the horizon of the game, Boca pushed and Ferro held on without air in his lungs or strength in his legs, At 33 minutes, Pol Fernández enabled Villa who got rid of Grana’s mark and scored a low and accurate shot.
Ferro played the rest in search of a draw. And he came close to doing so when defender Arena hit a well-executed free kick by Mosca and Rossi hit the ball at just the right moment. It was the last thing a low-flying game brought up Boca won only because it is Boca and it has more. There is no other reason that justifies the victory.
