Newells Old Boys’ 2-1 win opens a 10-point gap in Clausura Group A

Newells Old Boys beat Central Cordoba de Santiago 2-1 at Estadio Marcelo Bielsa, with the hosts holding a 1-0 half-time lead. The result lifted Newells to 20 points in Clausura - Group A, while Central Cordoba remained on 10.

Gómez Mattar and Solari put Newells in control

Jerónimo Gómez Mattar scored the opener in the 31st minute, making it 1-0. Santiago Germán Solari Ferreyra doubled Newells’ lead in the 69th minute for 2-0. Leonardo Sequeira pulled one back for Central Cordoba in the 80th minute, with Horacio Tijanovich providing the assist, but the visitors could not find an equaliser.

Newells’ superiority was reflected in the match statistics. They had 61% possession, 19 shots to Central Cordoba’s six, and seven shots on goal compared with two. Their expected-goals figure was 1.93 against 0.4. Central Cordoba’s late goal therefore narrowed the scoreline without matching the hosts’ overall attacking output.

Discipline and table impact

Central Cordoba collected five yellow cards, including late bookings for Yuri Casermeiro in the 78th minute and Marco Iacobellis in the 90th. Newells received three, and neither side was shown a red card.

Newells went into the game eighth in the Clausura table and now have 20 points, with their position dependent on tie-breakers. Central Cordoba are provisionally #14 on 10 points. Instituto Cordoba lead with 29, leaving Newells nine points behind and Central Cordoba 19 adrift. Both teams had entered after losses in their pre-match form.

Gómez Mattar leads the ratings

Gómez Mattar was one of the match’s standout performers, earning an 8.2 rating while scoring once and recording two shots on target.