Independiente held in Argentina, Boca hammered

(GSM) – Independiente missed a chance to go five points clear atop the Clausura table on Sunday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Colón. Meanwhile, Boca Juniors’ struggles continued as they were thrashed 4-1 by Chacarita Juniors.

Independiente came into Sunday with a two-point lead over Godoy Cruz, who were beaten by Estudiantes on Friday, and they came out strong against Colón as Leonel Núñez’s goal gave the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Colón, however, responded quickly with an equalizer 10 minutes later when Esteban Fuertes bagged one past Adrián Gabbarini.

The match quickly soured as Independiente’s Leonel Galeano was sent off on 33 minutes, and Colón’s Marcelo Goux likewise just after the second-half restart.

Both sides had chances, but Independiente were lucky to hang when a 72nd-minute red card to Dario Gandín forced them to finish with nine men.

Meanwhile, 10-man Boca went in front before being hammered by Chacarita.

Matías Giménez fired the visitors in front in the 29th minute, but Facundo Parra’s goal in the 47th minute equalized for Chacarita.

The match then turned on its head in the 55th minute when Boca defender Ezequiel Múñoz earned a straight red card, almost instantly leading to Nicolás Ramírez’s go-ahead strike.

Parra added a second in the 81st minute to make it 3-1, and Sebastián Sciorilli completed the rout two minutes from time to leave Boca third from bottom of the tournament.