Short-Handed Estudiantes Beats Danubio

After being down a man for well over an hour things looked bleak for Estudiantes. Yet once again, Néstor Sensini’s men showed their mettle and Juan Sebastián Verón showed why he is still worthy of a national team space. Juan Román Riquelme the best player in Argentina? I guess he had something to say about that and he did in the same exact pitch that saw his father win three straight Libertadores in the late 60’s.

Yet the weather and the referees seemed to have gone against the intentions of the visiting team. The pitch was on the edge Roberto Irala opened the scoring for La Franja early on. He snuck past various Estudiantes defenders and nailed a corner into the back of Andújar’s but it seemed like that was just the beginning of things to come. Just a few minutes later Agustín Alayes saw red and left his team a man down. But instead of El Pincha taking a step back and holding on for dear life, they helped a team and a player’s legacy grow.

Verón put the team on his back and was the catalyst on the attack. After a great deal of struggle having to deal with a heavy ball and pitch, he drew Estudiantes level. After two blown penalty calls by Chilean ref Enrique Osses, he decides to call it a third time. It was definitely a make-up call and Verón cashed in.

His game continued to step up and his partnership with Rodrigo Braña was vital towards giving some movement to the Estudiantes possession. Estudiantes were a man down for well over an hour, but if one were to look at the game for the first time, it would seem even. There were some instances when Danubio’s eternal goalscorer Carlos María Morales caused some problems for the Argentine defense, but other than that the team looked complacent yet ineffective.

Verón proved his worth when he looked at Enzo Pérez after his goal. He looked at him and that was the moment when the team knew they were going to win. In the 86th minute, Verón an incredible pass to Pérez and he would do all the work. After that, he got past the goalkeeper and silenced the small crowd at the Centenario.