Ten-man River Plate beats Belgrano
Two second half goals helped ten-man River Plate to a 2-1 victory over Belgrano on Sunday, while archrivals Boca Juniors won 3-2 against Quilmes on Saturday in the opening round of fixtures in Argentina's Torneo Final championship.
The games marked the return of famous managers to the Buenos Aires giants, with Ramon Diaz moving back to River and Carlos Bianchi to Boca in the offseason.
AROUND THE WORLD ...
In other results on Sunday, Newell's Old Boys got a 3-1 victory against Independiente and Rafaela defeated Racing 3-0.
On Saturday, All Boys and Godoy Cruz drew 1-1, Tigre won 3-1 against Estudiantes and San Martin drew 0-0 against San Lorenzo.
In previous spells with River, Diaz won the league title five times, the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.
It took until the 67th minute for his side to break through, with Leonel Vangioni striking a fierce left foot shot into a corner of the net from 25 yards (meters).
Carlos Luna doubled the lead in the 88th when he latched onto a flick on from a long ball and finished.
Guillermo Farre pulled a goal back for Belgrano from close range one minute later.
All the goals came after River's Leonardo Ponzio was sent off right after halftime.
Bianchi has won four league titles and three Copa Libertadores for Boca, but his team was 2-0 down inside 10 minutes.
Wilfredo Olivera headed in the first for Quilmes in the 5th and Cristian Menendez increased the lead with a chipped finish in the 9th.
Walter Erviti got one back for Boca in the 38th from close range, before Guillermo Burdisso handed Boca the victory with a second half double.
His equalizer came in the 68th from a freekick swung in from the right, and his second was a volley drilled in from the edge of the penalty area.
Ignaccio Scocco scored in the 17th and 77th for Newell's Old Boys with Pablo Perez wrapping up the scoring in the 82nd.
Independiente's goal came in the 21st through Cristian Tula.
Lucas Bovaglio converted a penalty for Rafaela's first in the 28th, with Sebastian Grazzini adding the second, again from the penalty spot, on the stroke of halftime.
Jonathan Lopez got the third for Rafaela four minutes into the second half.
Oscar Ahumada rescued a point for All Boys with a goal in the 77th, after Facundo Castillon had given Godoy Cruz the lead in first half injury time.
Tigre's goals came from Ruben Botta in the 28th, Alejandro Donatti in first half stoppage time and Gabriel Penalba in the 76th.
Marcos Gelabert had given Estudiantes the lead in the 9th.
San Martin and San Lorenzo played out a scoreless draw with few chances.
In Friday's games, reigning champion Velez Sarsfield defeated Argentinos Juniors 1-0, with Lucas Pratto scoring in first half stoppage time.
Dario Benedetto snatched a draw in second half stoppage time for Arsenal against Union Santa Fe, which had taken the lead through a goal from Brahian Aleman, in Friday's other game.
The final game of the opening round of fixtures between Lanus and Colon will take place on Monday.
Trending Now
-
Court convicts six players, father
A Dutch court convicted six young soccer players and the father of one of the athlete... -
Bayern, Barca targets Koscielny
Bayern Munich and Barcelona steps up interest in signing Arsenal defender Laurent Kos... -
Bale set to trademark logo
Gareth Bale could make up to £3million a year if he manages to trademark h... -
FIFA probes Ethiopia, Togo players
FIFA investigates Ethiopia and Togo for allegedly fielding ineligible players in Worl... -
Chelsea close in on Sneijder deal
Chelsea leading the chase for Dutch superstar Wesley Sneijder, with Fernando Torres s...
SOCCER Videos
FOX Soccer News's Grant Wahl previews Tuesday's World Cup qualifying match betwe...
FOX Soccer News analyzes this weekend's FIFA Confederations Cup action.
FOX Soccer News' Thomas Rongen discusses whether the Bundesliga is the best leag...
Mexico head coach Jose Manuel de la Torre insists his side can win the Confedera...
Spanish midfielder Isco has a choice to join Real Madrid or Manchester City
SOCCER Headlines
-
Nigeria shakes rust, smacks Tahiti in Confed Cup
-
Brazil protests spread in Sao Paulo, Rio | More unrest
-
Defending champs Spain put on clinic, edge Uruguay | Blog
-
Balotelli scores winner as Italy defeats Mexico | Trecker
-
Brazilian club Corinthians waiting for offers on Paulinho
-
Confed Cup: Brazil makes easy work of Japan | Action shots
-
Nigeria finally arrives in Brazil before Confed Cup opener
-
Protesters rally before Confederations Cup opener
-
Protests rock Brasilia before Confederations Cup | Watch
-
Balotelli exits Italy training with injury

Member Comments
Please note by clicking on "Post comment" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Use and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Be Polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed by the moderator.