Boca Juniors held 1-1 by Vélez, miss chance to close in on Zona A top | OneFootball

drew 1-1 against Vélez at the Tomás Adolfo Ducó Stadium on matchday four of the Clausura Tournament and was unable to cut the gap with the Fortín, which secured its place as the sole leader of Zone A until the next round and kept its three-point cushion over its rival in the Overall Standings to strengthen its position in the qualification zone for the 2027 Copa Libertadores.

The Xeneize had the clearest chances of the first half, as Milton Delgado hit the post with a shot while the score was still goalless, but Diego Valdés’ delivery from a free kick made it 1-0 for the visitors in the ninth minute.

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 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 goal.

In the second half, the former Estudiantes de La Plata man was his team’s main attacking weapon with a low shot that went just wide, an off-target header, 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, the 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 its attention to the Copa Sudamericana round-of-16 tie, because this Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. it will face Recoleta of Paraguay in the first leg, to be played at Huracán’s stadium. Domestically, it will play again next Saturday from 9:15 p.m. against Platense in Vicente López.

By contrast, Vélez will return to action on Monday, August 17, to face Defensa y Justicia at home on matchday five of the championship.

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