Gimnasia (M) took three points from Talleres (Córdoba) with a 3-1 victory in the Argentine Professional League's Clausura round five. The match at Victor Legrotaglie saw both sides trade blows before the hosts held firm. A. Modica opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the ninth minute, then doubled his tally just eleven minutes later. By then the visitors were already showing signs of frustration.
Modica's brace gave Gimnasia control of the early exchanges. Talleres responded with two yellow cards for T. O'Connor in quick succession, fourteen minutes in. The away side pushed forward but found themselves chasing the game. And here's the thing about penalties — they change everything, even when you score another goal afterwards.
L. Cingolani restored Talleres' belief in the fifty-first minute, but the match turned at the same moment. Both J. Franco and R. D. Riquelme received red cards in the sixty-seventh minute, leaving each team with ten men. The game opened up after that, with substitutions coming thick and fast. To be fair, neither manager had much choice at that stage.
S. Fernandez gave Talleres hope in the eighty-fifth minute, but F. Lencioni had already missed a penalty for Gimnasia in the eighty-third. The extra time brought more cards — yellow for M. A. Galarza, T. Chamorro, I. Sabatini, D. Mondino and Rick. The final whistle confirmed a hard-fought result where both sides had their moments.
Statistics tell a different story than the scoreline suggests. Gimnasia averaged 2.46 expected goals and took six shots on target, while Talleres managed 1.45 xG with five on target. The visitors dominated possession at 53 per cent and registered 103 attacks, against 87 for the hosts. Both teams won 26 aerial duels and each had one red card.
Gimnasia sit eleventh with 19 points from 16 games, while Talleres occupy fourth place on 26 points. The result ends Talleres' recent run of mixed form, including a heavy 3-0 defeat to Lanús. For Gimnasia it represents a shift after their previous loss to Instituto de Córdoba. The table goes out of the window in these games, as they say.