Boca wins Superclásico
1 vs. 0 
In Alberto J. Armando stadium better known as La Bombonera, Boca Juniors defeated River Plate in the Superclásico. The score: 1-0, The hero: Sebastián Battaglia, the time: 14th minute, the goal: a header off a Juan Roman Riquelme corner kick. The game was not dominated by either team but credit has to be given to Boca's backline of Monzon, Caceres, Maidana, and Morel Rodriguez. That backline bent a couple of times but never broke as they neutralized River's formidable attacking trio of Falcao, Alexis Sanchez, and Ariel Ortega along with Battaglia who was named Man of the Match.
River's best player was keeper Juan Carlos Carrizo, who made a big save on Rodrigo Palacio in the 1st half and was solid in the 2nd half. River's best chance to equalize came late in the 2nd half after substitute Sebastian Abreu just missed a header over the crossbar. That was Mauricio Caranta's only major action for the game. For Boca's part Riquelme did not play poorly but did not influence the game as many thought he would and left in the 2nd half with an injury. He did almost score Boca's 2nd goal when he got into the box, quickly cut back to his left just outside the 6-yard box and shot but River's Nicolás Sánchez deflected the attempt wide.
Boca's victory snaps a 5-game winless streak against their arch-rivals and puts them 1 point out of 1st place behind River and Estudiantes. Last time Boca beat River, was a 2-1 score at La Bombonera in the 2005 Clausura. Carlos Ischia gets his 1st Superclásico victory in his first game in charge.
The Boca victory comes on the heels of a fine of 30,000 dollar fine from CONMEBOL after a referee was hit in the head during the 2nd Round Libertadores match vs. Cruzeiro. The linesman was hit in the head with an ice cube supposedly from one of the private boxes at La Bombonera near the end of 2nd half injury time. Included in the punishment is a stadium ban although how long and when it will begin is not known.
Boca cannot celebrate too much cause they have Estudiantes next week in La Plata and travel to Belo Horizonte with a dangerous 2-1 advantage for a Wednesday clash against Cruzeiro in the 2nd leg of their Libertadores matchup. River will have to forget quickly as Los Millonarios have a tough 2nd leg Libertadores match against San Lorenzo. River also has a La Plata team to face next week vs Gimnasia.
| MATCH STATS | ||
| Boca Juniors | River Plate | |
| Goals | 1 | 0 |
| Fouls | 11 | 11 |
| Corner Kicks | 4 | 3 |
| Offsides | 0 | 0 |
| Shots (on goal) | 12(4) | 4(1) |
| Yellow Cards | 2 | 1 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
| Saves | 1 | 3 |
| Boca Juniors |
| Substitutions |
| Crístian M. Chávez (75') for Juan R. Riquelme |
| Facundo S. Roncaglia (80') for Morel Rodríguez |
| Alvaro R. González (81') for Jesús A. Dátolo |
| River Plate |
| Substitutions |
| Nicolás Sánchez (55') for Augusto Fernández |
| Diego Buonanotte (65') for Sebastián Abreu |
| Ariel A. Ortega (75') for Mauro Rosales |
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