Newell's Old Boys and Boca Juniors shared the spoils in a 2:2 draw during the Clausura round three of Argentina's Professional League, played on 2 August. The result leaves the hosts in 14th place on 15 points while Boca remain second with 30 after 16 matches. And here's the thing — the away side had dominated possession but could only convert one chance from their five big opportunities created.
Ascacibar broke the deadlock for Boca in the 30th minute before Coccaro levelled for Newell's just before the break. Regiardo then put the hosts ahead in the 50th minute, only for Velasco to rescue a point with an 81st-minute strike. The visitors' midfielder picked up a yellow card at the 80th minute, just before finding the net.
Boca moved 60 per cent of the ball but Newell's were more direct. The hosts completed 274 passes against 403 for the visitors, while Boca's 109 attacks produced 1.62 expected goals compared to Newell's 79 attacks and 0.54 xG. To be fair, the statistics suggest the hosts were content to sit deep and punish on the counter.
Shots tell a similar story — Newell's managed two on target and two off, while Boca had four on target and nine off target. The visitors created five big chances but could only convert one, whereas the hosts found the back of the net twice from their limited output. By then the match had settled into a rhythm neither side could quite break.
Five substitutions were made across the second half, with Merentiel and Coccaro coming off for Boca and Villa, Sotelo and Escobar for Newell's. The hosts had already lost their previous outing 1:0 to Independiente on 31 July, while Boca's last two games brought a 1:0 win over O'Higgins and a heavy 0:3 defeat to Restra.
The draw does little to change the table picture. Newell's remain 15 points adrift of leaders while Boca's three-point cushion over third place holds firm. Neither side's recent form suggests this result will shift the momentum much in either direction.