Herrera's scandalous, biased refereeing hands Central 2-1 win v Racing | OneFootball

At the start of extra time came the first controversy. Alejo Véliz flicked it with his heel and wheeled away celebrating Central’s equalizer. However, the assistant referee ruled it out for offside. It was so close that VAR reviewed it for about five minutes until, finally, the officiating team decided to uphold the original decision. Rosario Central are in the Torneo Apertura semifinals. After a tense period of extra time, marked by several controversies, Canalla beat Racing 2-1 at the Gigante de Arroyito in the quarterfinals. Zaracho opened the scoring for the visitors, but Gastón Ávila equalized and sent the match to extra time. Maravilla Martínez and Di Cesare were both sent off for the Avellaneda side, and they could not hold on with two men down. Enzo Copetti turned it around in extra time.

The first half was far too choppy, more fought than played, more argued than emotional. In the first half hour there were 11 fouls, an average of one every three minutes: if you add the time players spent on the ground and the complaints, there was hardly any football played.

Even so, Central had the first clear chance with a move finished by Sandez, whose shot went over Cambeses’ goal. It began with a through ball from Pizarro that found Copetti alone. But his poor first touch cost him time and, ultimately, a clear scoring chance.

But Racing began to pull the strings and, before the end of the first half, opened the scoring with a surprising run from Matías Zaracho. Maravilla Martínez brought it down for him in the box, and the full-back celebrated after putting it into the back of Central’s net.

Both teams had one chance, but the Avellaneda club landed the better punch and the Rosario side did not.

At the start of the second half came the first controversy. Alejo Véliz flicked it with his heel and wheeled away celebrating Central’s equalizer. However, the assistant referee ruled it out for offside. It was so close that VAR reviewed it for about five minutes until, finally, the officiating team decided to uphold the original decision.

Canalla then produced the best spell of their match. Cambeses kept out a superb Di María cross that could have brought the equalizer. In any case, it would not take long to arrive. Once again, Fideo whipped a rocket into the box and Gato Ávila leveled the game.

Immediately afterward came another controversy. Maravilla Martínez struck Coronel with his hand and the referee booked him. But that was not the end of it, because VAR called Darío Herrera over to review the play and the referee decided to send him off. Racing were furious, believing the punishment was excessive.

Central kept pushing. Their most dangerous weapon was Di María’s delivery and Cambeses made a huge save from Ovando, whose header then struck the post. It could have been the second.

Extra time in Arroyito

The match remained wide open and went to extra time with the score unchanged. The first 15 minutes were tense and short on chances. However, the first period of extra time brought yet another controversy: Di Cesare’s red card, which left Racing with an even steeper uphill battle and simply trying to hang on.

In the second period of extra time, one moment will live long in the memory of Canalla fans: Marco Ruben, the club’s all-time leading scorer, returned to action. Di María handed him the captain’s armband and left the field. Quintana also came on to play as a “9.”

In any case, neither of them was needed to win it. Before either had even touched the ball, Enzo Copetti scored the second and unleashed joy at the Gigante de Arroyito.

He did not want to celebrate it too much because of his past with Racing, but the whole stadium celebrated it for him. The match gradually fizzled out. With space to attack, Canalla could have scored a third, but failed to do so. Marco Ruben came close there. It is all part of the memory now. Central are in the semifinals, and that is all the fans care about.

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