Atletico Tucuman up to second in Argentina, more South America news

Several provincial sides remain in the Superliga hunt. Penarol went six points clear in Uruguay. Here’s the soccer news from South America this weekend.

After shutting down for the international break, half of the domestic leagues across South America returned to the pitch this weekend. Every CONMEBOL league except the Primera in Chile was in action this week, and it made for some great storylines to follow across the continent.

While the Pacific side of the Southern Cone was out of action, let’s begin our look at all the news from across South America by taking a longer look at the matches on the opposite side of the Andes, in Argentina and Uruguay. From there we’ll take a look at the rest of the soccer stories throughout South America.

Atletico Tucuman helping represent provincial sides in Argentina

Ahead of Rosario Central’s match against Defensa y Justicia on Monday, another provincial side from outside the greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area took over second place in the Superliga Argentina table behind leaders Racing Club. Atletico Tucuman set themselves up well to head into a Copa Libertadores week.

With the first leg of their quarterfinal matchup against Grêmio on Tuesday, Atlético earned three points decisively in their 3-0 win over Tigre on Friday evening. Luis Miguel Rodríguez had a hat trick against Tigre in Tucuman, including a penalty conversion right before halftime. The trio of goals made Atletico Tucuman the second club in Argentina this season to get to 10 goals in league play.

Rosario Central still have their match in hand and will climb back into second place if they beat Defensa y Justicia on Monday. Either way, a side from outside the capital city and its environs will be there right behind Racing Club challenging in the title race. Even if Rosario Central only draw, they’ll climb back up into a three-way tie for third in the table, sitting fourth in the overall standings with a goal differential two up.

It’s been five years since a provincial side won the title in Argentina, when Newell’s Old Boys won the Torneo Final under the old, dual-season format. With the single-season system now in place, the opportunities for a club outside the Federal District to claim a league title have been cut in half. This might just be the year, though, where several are in the mix until the end.

Penarol open up six-point lead at top of table in Uruguay

The Montevideo derby at Parque Central between Nacional and Wanderers ended in a 3-1 victory for the visiting Wanderers. Nicolas Albarracin scored the first goal for Wanderers in the 63rd minute, and Rodrigo Pastorini notched the first of his two goals three minutes later on a penalty. Nacional pulled one back when Gonzalo Bergessio scored in the 73rd minute, but Pastorini restored the two-goal lead less than 10 minutes before full time.

With the victory, Wanderers pulled within a point of Nacional in the table, 19 points to 18. The order remained the same, but the compression between second and third place created a chance for Penarol to open a wider gap at the top of the table. Peñarol took full advantage of the opportunity, moving six points clear with a 2-0 victory over Danubio.

The league leaders secured the shutout win despite the fact that starting goalkeeper Kevin Dawson picked up a red card in the 25th minute, becoming the first Penarol keeper sent off since Washington Aguerre against Rampla Juniors in 2014.

Lucas Viatri came off early so backup goalkeeper Thiago Cardozo could enter the match, and he came up big several times to preserve the clean sheet. Gabriel Matias Fernandez Leites put Penarol up a quarter hour into the second half, and Fabricio Formillano added an insurance goal 14 minutes before the end of the match.

Nacional need rival Penarol to lose if they have any chance of closing the gap in the final six matches of the Clausura. The two clubs face each other on October 14 at Parque Central.

Keep an eye on the news out of Brazil on Monday

Sao Paulo drew 0-0 against Santos on the road on Sunday. Third-place Palmeiras drew 1-1 at Bahia, while fourth-place Flamengo secured an identical result at Vasco da Gama. With the split points all around, Internacional can jump into sole leadership of the top spot in Brazil’s Serie A and open up a two-point gap with a win on the road at Chapecoense on Monday.

Chapecoense should be an easy mark for Internacional. Chape has given up 35 goals in 24 matches. The club sit nine points off the bottom of the table, with half the points accrued that Sao Paulo currently hold at the top of the table.

Be sure to tune in Friday, when we look at all the action coming up throughout South America over the upcoming weekend.