Boca Juniors drew 1-1 with Vélez, missed chance to close on Zone A top | OneFootball

they drew 1-1 against Vélez at the Tomás Adolfo Ducó Stadium on matchday four of the Clausura Tournament and were unable to close the gap on El Fortín, which secured its place as the sole leader of Zone A until the next round and maintained a three-point advantage over its rival in the Annual Table to strengthen its position in the qualification zone for the 2027 Copa Libertadores.

Xeneize had the clearest chances of the first half, as Milton Delgado hit the post with a shot with the score still level, but Diego Valdés’ delivery from a free kick made it 1-0 for the visitors after nine minutes.

From then on, the Blue and Gold side showed plenty of cracks at the back, and Leandro Paredes had to clear one off the line to prevent the visitors’ second goal. That warning sign woke up Vasco Arruabarrena’s team, which leveled the match thanks to a goal from Santiago Ascacíbar in the 38th minute. Moments later, Álvaro Montero denied Dilan Godoy in a one-on-one, and in the final play, the post denied Ascacíbar his second.

In the second half, the former Estudiantes de La Plata man was his team’s main attacking outlet with a low shot that went just wide, a header off target, and a bicycle kick straight into the goalkeeper’s hands. In addition, Leonel Flores forced two saves from Marchiori, while Delgado and Paredes also had their chances, but nothing changed the equation, not even the introductions of Sebastián Villa and Milton Giménez. In fact, El Fortín nearly snatched the win, but Montero came up big to stop a shot from Luca Feler. It all ended level in Parque Patricios.

Now, Boca Juniors will turn their attention to the Copa Sudamericana round-of-16 tie, as they will face Recoleta of Paraguay this Tuesday at 19:00 in the first leg, to be played at Huracán’s stadium. Domestically, they will play again next Saturday from 21:15 against Platense in Vicente López.

By contrast, Vélez will return to action on Monday, August 17, when they host Defensa y Justicia on matchday five of the championship.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.