Velez overtakes Lanus for first in Argentina

Velez Sarsfield overtook Lanus at the top of the table after defeating Newell's Old Boys 2-0 at the Jose Amalfitani stadium on Saturday. Velez completely dominated its opponents and won the match courtesy of goals from attackers Hernan Lopez and Maximiliano Moralez. Lucas Bernardi reduced the visitors to ten men right before the halftime break and from then on it was all Velez.

Next week Velez will travel to the South of Buenos Aires to take on third-place Lanus, and in the final round it will lock horns with second-place Huracan. Ricardo Gareca's team is the favorite to win the championship.

The victory was greatly celebrated in Liniers, as Lanus was crushed 4-1 by Arsenal de Sarandi at the Julio Grondona stadium. Arsenal, which came into the game at the bottom of the league table, scored three times in the first 24 minutes with two goals from Cristian Pellerano and another from Sergio Senna. Maximiliano Velazquez pulled a goal back for Lanus minutes after Arsenal's third goal, but Benedetto Muzzicato completed the rout in second-half injury time.

Meanwhile, Huracan moved into second place after edging fierce rival San Lorenzo 1-0 at the Bombonera stadium on Sunday. The only goal of the match was converted by Paolo Goltz in the first half.

In the highly anticipated clash between Buenos Aires rivals Racing Club and Boca Juniors, La Academia claimed all three points with a crushing 3-0 victory. Racing's goals were all scored in the second half by Lucas Castroman, Franco Zuculini and Sebastian Grazzini. Sebastian Battaglia was sent off midway through the second half for Boca.

Boca's archrival River Plate remains in fifth place after it came from behind to beat Tigre 3-1 at the Monumental stadium on Saturday. Leandro Lazzaro scored for Tigre inside the first minute of the match, but Roberto Flores, Radamel Falcao Garcia and Cristian Fabbiani turned the result in River's favor.

Rosario Central will remain in the Argentine top-flight next season after defeating Argentinos Juniors 2-1. Pablo Lima and Ivan Moreno y Fabianesi scored for Central, while Nestor Ortigoza pulled a goal back for the visitors from the penalty spot five minutes from the end.

The relegation battle between San Martin de Tucuman and Gimnasia de Jujuy was won by the visiting team. Gimnasia's winner was scored by Silvio Iuvale in the first half.

In other results, Estudiantes de La Plata sneaked past Godoy Cruz 1-0, Banfield thrashed Independiente 5-0 and Colon de Santa Fe proved too strong for Gimnasia de La Plata with a 2-0 victory.