Estudiantes de La Plata thumped Gimnasia La Plata 4-0 in the fifth round of Argentina's Clausura at the Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi on Friday night. The home side, already top of the table with 31 points from 16 games, made light work of the sixth-placed visitors who sit on 26 points. The result extends Estudiantes' lead at the summit while leaving Gimnasia with work to do.
By then the contest had been decided, though not without some drama in the first half. Estudiantes' Tiago Palacios picked up a yellow in the twenty-eighth minute, but it was Gimnasia who began to unravel. Alexis Steimbach was sent off in the thirty-fifth after a second caution, and then Germán Conti followed him out in the fifty-third minute with his own double booking. Two men down changed everything.
Estudiantes took advantage of the numerical advantage with ruthless efficiency. Eros Mancuso opened the scoring in the forty-third minute, a goal that arrived before the half-time whistle and gave the hosts momentum. After the break, Palacios doubled the lead in the sixtieth minute before Joaquin Burgos made it 3-0 in the seventieth. Alexis Castro added a fourth in the eighty-fourth to settle any remaining nerves.
The statistics tell their own story. Estudiantes enjoyed 77 per cent possession and created six big chances from 117 attacks, while Gimnasia managed just one big chance from 63 attacks. The expected goals figures showed 2.4 for the hosts against 0.53 for the visitors, which reflected the quality of opportunities rather than the final tally. Eight shots on target for Estudiantes compared to three for Gimnasia.
What this means for the table is straightforward. Estudiantes extend their advantage at the top with another three points, and they carried the side through a match where they camped in the final third for long periods. Gimnasia's clean-sheet run came to an end, and they now face a difficult run-in if they want to challenge for a better position.