Tigre stun Lanús away, set up quarter-final clash with Racing | OneFootball

El Matador struck a blow against the Granate as visitors, won 1-0 and advanced to the next round where they will face Racing.

Tigre ruined Lanús’ party in their own home in the round of 16 of the Clausura. The team from Victoria took advantage of the home side’s fatigue after their effort in the Copa Sudamericana final, gave up possession, and waited for a mistake or a lucky break to pull off the upset. That’s exactly what happened with the winning goal for El Matador, who moved on to the quarterfinals and will face Racing at the Cilindro, one of the title contenders after eliminating River.

The emotional high from celebrating the Copa Sudamericana title meant Lanús controlled the game from the start, although the defensive block set up by Dabove with a double line of four closed off the paths to Tigre’s area for the creative trio of Salvio, Marcelino Moreno, and Carrera, who had to resort to crosses looking for Castillo’s head to create danger. Even so, the Grana’s left winger found himself alone in front of Zenobio’s goal after a surprise run down the right but lost his composure and sent the ball into the stands. The home side’s other clear chance in the first half was a header from the center forward that the goalkeeper sent out for a corner.

In this context, Tigre’s formula worked (except for those couple of chances already mentioned) even though the team from Victoria focused solely on defending and only attacked occasionally, like with Medina’s left-footed shot from way out that Losada watched as it hit the post. And with Romero’s goal in the opening minutes of the second half, once again after a set piece, El Matador hit the jackpot and filled Lanús with questions, leaving the fans in the Fortress in shock.

Naturally, from that moment on, both teams’ approaches intensified, as the visitors retreated even further into their own half and the Granate entered a nervous state that cost them the composure needed to attack calmly in search of an equalizer. Thus, crosses once again became the home side’s main weapon to try to score, and a poor clearance by Zenobio led to Castillo’s equalizer, although the goal was disallowed by Rey Hilfer at the request of VAR because the ball had bounced off the striker’s arm after the goalkeeper’s right-handed save.

The introductions of Aquino, Méndez, and Bou crowded the attack with offensive players but didn’t open up any gaps and served only as valuable support for Marcelino, the most intense, intelligent, and precise player on a Lanús side that was running out of steam as their legs began to fail. The freshness of Segovia was the last hope, and goalkeeper Losada went forward looking for a miracle in the final crosses.

It was no use, it wasn’t Pellegrino’s team’s night, and the party at the Fortress was spoiled by the claws of a Tigre that now goes after Gustavo Costas’ Academia with the confidence of having dashed the Clausura dreams of the recent Sudamericana champions. In any case, Dabove surely knows he’ll need better team play and improved individual performances to dream of the title.

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