Buenos Aires, Jan 21 (NA) – Midland achieved a historic qualification to the Round of 16 of the Copa Argentina by defeating Argentinos Juniors 6-5 on penalties, after a 1-1 draw in regular time, at the Ciudad de Lanús stadium. According to the Argentine News Agency, the 'Funebrero's' goalkeeper Mauro Leguiza became the hero by saving the shots of Leandro Fernández, Gino Infantino, and Diego Porcel, and scoring the decisive penalty to secure his team's passage to the next stage of the tournament. Meanwhile, Marcos Roseti, Lucas Vico, Rodrigo Cao, Emilio Porro, and Genaro Cepeda scored the remaining goals for the Merlo side, while Lautaro Díaz sent his shot over the bar and Nicolás Violini was stopped by Brayan Cortés. For the team led by Nicolás Diez, the scorers were Alan Lescano, Leandro Lozano, Francis Mac Allister, Francisco Álvarez, and Tobías Ramírez. With this result, the team led by Joaquín Iturrería, who recently earned promotion to the second division of Argentine football (Primera Nacional), caused a major upset by eliminating 'El Bicho' and will now await the winner between Godoy Cruz and Deportivo Morón to know their opponent in the next round. The team from La Paternal was superior in the initial stage in terms of ball possession and opportunities, but failed to seriously threaten goalkeeper Mauro Leguiza, and the match went to halftime with Argentinos Juniors leading 1-0, keeping the Primera Nacional side in the game. In a great collective play, Tomás Molina controlled the ball with his body, and after a series of combinations, Leandro Lozano assisted Alan Lescano, who only had to push the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring. Due to the difference in squad hierarchy, it was expected that 'El Bicho' would easily overcome their rivals, but Midland stood firm and in the second half, they equalized through Agustín Campana. The left winger controlled the ball with his chest inside the area and unleashed a powerful right-footed shot that defeated Chilean goalkeeper Brayan Cortés, making it 1-1, a result that held until the end of the match and forced the game into a penalty shootout. There, Mauro Leguiza became the hero by saving the penalties from Leandro Fernández, Gino Infantino, and Diego Porcel, asked to take the last penalty, and sealed Midland's qualification to the Round of 16 of the Copa Argentina.
