Palermo goal against Gimnasia La Plata. For many in Argentina it seemed like a normal thing as El Loco did this so frequently in his illustrious career at La Boca. On Sunday this was part of the Argentine football status quo, but there was an element of history involved this time around. Boca played a crazy first half in which they had their backs against the wall for the majority of the first half.
Jonatan Maidana was sent off in the 37th minute after a dangerous challenge. That was part of the game that trudged along and saw Boca fight tooth and nail to stay alive, especially after they went a man down. Still when they did, they had more talent on the pitch than the Triperos. Fabián Vargas was key in the first half to give some offensive potential to the Xeneize.
His initial pass to Juan Román Riquelme saw Rodrigo Palacio in the box. Palacio was once again taken down in the box and forced referee Carlos Magglio to call a penalty. That was when Martín Palermo saw his date with destiny. He went up and slammed home the penalty that saw him draw even with Francisco Varallo prior to heading to the locker room. When they came back onto the pitch, Gimnasia kept the pressure up but Boca were up to the challenge and were able to hold on despite the circumstances and earn the three points on the road.
The bad news is that they lost their all-time scorer for next week’s clash against Independiente at home.
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