Belgrano stuns Racing with a Zelarayán blast and a VAR-disallowed goal

The scoreboard read 0-2 in Belgrano's favor, but the second goal never actually counted: it was VAR, not a striker, that ended up deciding the match at the Cilindro de Avellaneda. Racing Club dominated the ball, strung together more than 500 passes, and still walked away empty-handed against Belgrano, who got the job done with a long-range screamer and a helping hand from the technology.

The only goal that made it onto the scoreboard came in the 40th minute, when Lucas Zelarayán struck a left-footed shot from outside the box that slipped in by the right post, set up by a pass from Lucas Passerini. It landed right before halftime, the kind of blow that shifts the mood of a team that had been fighting for every fifty-fifty ball up to that point.

In the second half, Racing tried to respond with possession and crosses into the box, but it was Belgrano who came closest to putting the game away. In the 68th minute, Emiliano Rigoni buried the ball in the net, but the visitors' celebration was short-lived: a VAR review wiped out the goal, and a minute later the referee confirmed on the field that it would not count. That was, in effect, the last real moment of drama in the match. Racing kept pushing until the end with the introductions of Matías Zaracho, Elías Torres and Duván Vergara, but couldn't do enough to trouble Belgrano's goal.

Plenty of the ball, not enough sharpness

The numbers tell the story of a game that was even in chances but lopsided in finishing. Racing Club controlled the ball with 61.7% possession, but only 4 of its 13 shots found the target. Belgrano, with less than half of the home side's passes, was far more clinical: also firing 13 shots, but putting 8 of them on frame.

The xG generated in the match, calculated afterward based on shot locations, shows a balance that the final score doesn't reflect: 1.652 for Racing Club against 1.661 for Belgrano. In other words, both teams created similar danger, but Belgrano made the most of what it had, while Racing's players squandered clear chances, like Elías Torres' header in the 77th minute or Matías Zaracho's shot in the 89th that narrowly missed the target.

The projection published before the match gave Racing Club a 40% chance of winning, against 27% for Belgrano and 33% for a draw, with expected goals of 1.16 for the home side and 0.91 for the visitors. The result ended up contradicting that forecast: despite being the favorite and dominating possession, Racing Club couldn't convert a single chance, and Belgrano walked away with all three points thanks to one clinical finish and a refereeing decision that tipped the scales in its favor.

What it means in the standings

In Group B, Belgrano moved up to 22 points through 12 matches played (6 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses) and jumps into the mix near the top, level on points with Rosario Central and Argentinos Juniors. Racing Club, meanwhile, remains stuck on 11 points through those same 12 matches (3 wins, 2 draws, 7 losses), an 11-point gap to today's opponent that reflects two completely different campaigns so far in Argentina's Primera División.

For Racing Club, the afternoon leaves an uncomfortable summary: it controlled the ball, generated an xG almost identical to its rival's, and still came away with nothing. For Belgrano, on the other hand, clinical finishing and a favorable VAR call were enough to collect all three points on the road.