Racing remains in the race and is going for the title. After a hard-fought match, La Academia secured a 1-0 win over Boca at La Bombonera and is a finalist in the 2025 Torneo Clausura.
After a slight delay at the start to remove streamers from the field, the match began with an elbow from "Maravilla" Martínez to Ayrton Costa that had no repercussions. Beyond this action, in the opening minutes the match was extremely evenly matched, with possession for both sides and no clear dominant team.
Another factor that came into play was rough play. In the 24th minute, Nardoni received the first yellow card of the clásico for a hard tackle on Palacios.
It was not until the 41st minute that the first major incident of the match occurred: Nardoni himself took a shot from distance and the ball struck the outside of Marchesín's right post.
Minutes later, Mura received Racing's second yellow card for a foul on Zeballos and, near the end of the first half, Di Césare was also booked for a foul on the "Changuito." With few other dangerous actions, the match went to halftime at 0-0.
In the second half, Colombo picked up another card for the Avellaneda team for a tackle from behind on Milton Giménez. Later, Barinaga received Boca's first yellow card for a slide tackle on Vergara, who was leading a promising Racing attack that almost left him alone to face the Xeneize goalkeeper.
In the 73rd minute, "Sifón" Úbeda made the first substitution for the home team: Alan Velasco for "Changuito" Zeballos, one of the most outstanding players of the match. Just two minutes later, the first goal of the night arrived. Racing took the lead thanks to "Maravilla" Martínez, who beat Acosta to the ball and scored the 1-0 with a header after a precise cross from Rojas, also breaking a nearly 1000-minute goal drought.
To secure the result, Gustavo Costas made changes from the bench, first bringing on Zuculini and Conechny for Almendra and the injured Solari, and then Adrián Fernández for Vergara. Moments later, "Maravilla" was shown a yellow card for repeated fouls, as were Paredes and the recently substituted Fernández.
Although Boca pressed harder in search of an equalizer, Boca could not find the goal, and the match ended in a narrow victory for Racing.
With this result, Racing will face the winner of the La Plata clásico between Estudiantes and Gimnasia in the final of the Torneo Clausura. The grand final will be played on Saturday, December 13 at the Estadio Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero, with the time to be confirmed.
