Union, take note: Estudiantes lost to San Lorenzo and had a man sent off | OneFootball

In a clash of contrasts marked by heavy rain at the end, San Lorenzo edged Estudiantes de La Plata by the narrowest of margins this Friday at the Nuevo Gasómetro. The match, corresponding to the 13th round of the 2026 Apertura Tournament, halted the visitors’ momentum and gave the home side some breathing room.

The decisive difference came from midfielder Manuel Insaurralde just 10 minutes into the first half. With this result, Gustavo Álvarez’s tenure gets its first win, allowing the “Ciclón” to climb to eighth place in Zone A with 17 points. Their next match will be on Sunday, April 12 at 15:00, when they visit Newell’s.

As for the “Pincha,” the defeat ruined their chance to reach the top and left them in second place with 21 points. Now, the La Plata side is preparing to host Unión on Saturday, April 11 at 17:15, a team coming in high spirits after beating Deportivo Riestra.

The goal came early: in the 10th minute, Insaurralde received the ball on the left, linked up with Nahuel Barrios, and fired a right-footed shot that slipped through a defender’s legs and tucked in by the left post, leaving Fabricio Iacovich with no chance.

Estudiantes responded in the 31st minute with an individual move by Facundo Farías; the forward unleashed a low shot across goal that goalkeeper Orlando Gill managed to get a touch on before it struck the post. On the rebound, Tiago Palacios failed to settle himself and sent his effort over the crossbar.

Farías threatened again in the 36th minute with another run down the left that ended in an off-target shot, and just a minute later, Mikel Amondarain tried a first-time low strike that went just wide of the far post.

Before halftime, in the 43rd minute, Eric Meza cut inside in the box to shake off his marker, but his left-footed shot was weak and ended up in Gill’s hands.

After the restart, San Lorenzo threatened four minutes in with a diagonal run by “Perrito” Barrios that ended with a shot over the bar.

In the 20th minute of the second half, things took a turn for the visitors: Tomás Palacios was sent off following a VAR review after a dangerous play in which his foot struck Nicolás Tripichio in the head, leaving him with a cut.

With a man advantage, the home side had chances to extend the lead. In the 25th minute, substitute Rodrigo Auzmendi smashed a volley off the right post and, three minutes later, the same forward connected with a header from a Tripichio cross that Iacovich managed to hold.

Despite being a man down, the «Pincha» looked to counterattack. In the 33rd minute, Meza missed with a powerful shot and in the 36th, San Lorenzo’s Paraguayan goalkeeper denied Edwuin Cetré with a strong strike at the near post.

Near the end, in the 43rd minute, Iacovich came up big with a fingertip save for a corner against a thunderous Auzmendi effort aimed at the top corner. Deep into stoppage time, Gill capped off his great night by stopping a low shot from Meza made even trickier by the water.

In the final play of the match, Auzmendi beat the visiting goalkeeper with a delicate touch, but defender Santiago Núñez arrived in time to clear the ball before it crossed the line.

Match summary

Lineups

Estudiantes: Fabricio Iacovich; Eric Meza, Leandro González Pirez, Tomás Palacios, Eros Mancuso; Ezequiel Piovi, Mikel Amondarain; Fabricio Pérez, Alexis Castro, Tiago Palacios; Facundo Farías. Head coach: Alexander Medina.

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