Two blunders by visiting goalkeeper Ezequiel Centurion helped Boca Juniors to a 2-0 victory over Independiente Rivadavia at La Bombonera stadium in the Argentine Primera Division Apertura tournament on Tuesday.
The second-half goals by Miguel Merentiel and Exequiel Zeballos meant Boca secured their second win in five games to momentarily climb to seventh with eight points in Group A.
Rivadavia, who have the same points, sit fifth on goal difference after their first defeat in the campaign.
“I’m happy for the win, we needed it after the previous game where a lot was missing,” Boca midfielder Williams Alarcon said referring to Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Racing.
“But football quickly gives you a chance to bounce back and today we showed that we are a great team and we can fight for the title.”
In a slow-paced first half, the visitors almost opened the scoring just three minutes in when Luis Sequeira drew a good save from Boca goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin.
Boca, already missing forward Edinson Cavani through injury, lost midfielder Tomas Belmonte in the 19th minute, shortly after Merentiel also drew a good save from Centurion.
But Merentiel opened the scoring six minutes after the break, after Centurion fumbled an easy ball to allow the Uruguayan to score from close-range.
Rivadavia came close to an equaliser when Sheyko Studer’s volley struck the crossbar after a fine Marchesin save just five minutes later, while Boca missed a chance to extend their lead as substitute Zeballos also hit the woodwork in the 75th minute.
Zeballos, however, managed to seal the win for the hosts seven minutes from time, scoring off a rebound from Centurion, who had blocked a powerful shot from Milton Gimenez, but could not save the 22-year-old’s strike.
“Today we were better, we decided during the week that we had to win at home no matter what. This crowd is crazy,” Boca centre-back Ayrton Costa said.
