Newell’s Old Boys went back to the top of the table on Saturday night despite a poor performance in a dull 1-1 draw against Platense.
La Lepra were fortunate to have scored at all; Marcos Ledesma’s calamitous error in goal for Platense gifting Sanguinetti’s side a goal at the end of an uneventful first-half in which Newell’s mustered zero shots on-target.
The home side were the better team in the second-half and got their reward with fewer than 10 minutes remaining when substitute Juan Cruz Esquivel pinged in an absolute belter from range.
Newell’s struggled to hold possession in the midfield and badly missed the likes of Pablo Pérez, Cristian Ferreira, Nicolás Castro (who was left on the bench) and the yet-to-debut Fabián Ángel who was signed to add volume to the centre of the park.
Still unbeaten, Newell’s must improve against Racing next Saturday as the most important match of the season follows that; the Clásico Rosarino against rivals Rosario Central on 21 July.
Watch the highlights of the match below.
