Gimnasia La Plata advances to semis by beating Barracas Central

Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata defeated Barracas Central 2-0 in the Clausura Tournament quarterfinals and will face its classic rival, Estudiantes de La Plata, in the next round. The visitors dominated the match from the start. First, Bruera faced a double save by Insfrán and hit the post; then Tapia tried a shot from outside, and later Bruera headed again, but was once again stopped by the goalkeeper. Despite the pressure, Gimnasia withstood those minutes and went to halftime with a minimal lead, relying on the solidity of its goalkeeper and effectiveness in the final meters. In the second half, the home team came out determined to seek equality and again put the 'Lobo' in trouble. From the first minute, the 'Lobo' set the pace and created the first chances: Merlo warned with a header, Pintado shot from outside, and Silva Torrejon demanded a save from Miño in a play that almost ended in a goal. The dominance materialized in the 21st minute when a great collective action on the right culminated with Merlo's assist for Manuel Panaro to make it 1-0, a goal that was reviewed and validated by VAR. Barracas reacted and had its best spell towards the end of the first half, accumulating clear chances to equalize.