Torneo Clausura round 16: Boca are Campeón de Liga with Valencia's goal on 90+6, and the last 16 is set

Boca beat Defensa y Justicia 1–0 with a goal by Enner Valencia on 90+6 and, according to La Nación, topped the annual table and took the Campeón de Liga title with 63 points, one more than Rosario Central, who beat Estudiantes de Río Cuarto 2–0 at the same time. Argentinos Juniors, the other contender, lost 2–0 to Huracán, who went through to the last 16 with that win. Round 16, the last of the zone stage, brought 34 goals in 15 matches: seven home wins, three away wins and five draws, and ten sent off, one of them a coach.

Thursday 5 November

Aldosivi 0–2 River: Javier Esteban Sanguinetti of Aldosivi was sent off on 73, and River settled it late on: Lucas Beltrán converted a penalty on 76 and Ángel Correa, from Francisco Ortega's pass, added the second on 90+1. River had 68 per cent of the ball and 23 shots, nine on target; Aldosivi had two shots, none on target.

Gimnasia de La Plata 2–1 Belgrano: Lucas Janson opened the scoring for Gimnasia de La Plata on 6 and Agustín Auzmendi, from Matías Melluso's pass, added the second on 27. Alcides Benítez pulled one back for Belgrano on 45+1. Belgrano had 64 per cent of the ball and 20 shots, six on target.

Friday 6 November

Barracas Central 2–0 Racing: Nicolás Orsini, from Rodrigo Bogarín's pass, put Barracas Central ahead on 43 and Norberto Briasco added the second on 77. Racing had more of the ball, 56 per cent, and eight corners, but only two shots on target.

Independiente 2–1 Deportivo Riestra: Mateo Pérez Curci put Independiente ahead on 11 from Josías Palais's pass. Alexander Díaz, from Tomás González's pass, equalised for Deportivo Riestra on 86, and a minute later Felipe Tempone, from Juan Fedorco's pass, won it for Independiente on 87.

San Lorenzo 0–2 Platense: Víctor Cuesta opened the scoring for Platense on 22 and Kevin Retamar added the second on 52, both from Juan Carlos Gauto's passes. Guzmán Corujo of San Lorenzo was sent off on 73. Platense had seven shots, five on target. It was not enough for either: Platense finished tenth in Zona A and San Lorenzo 11th.

Unión 2–0 Vélez: Thiago Silvero of Vélez was sent off on 10, and Cristian Tarragona scored both of Unión's goals: from the penalty spot on 12 and from Marcelo Estigarriba's pass on 28. Vélez had one shot on target. Tarragona reached 17 goals, but Unión finished ninth, a point short of qualification.

Banfield 2–2 Atlético Tucumán: Juan Rodríguez scored twice in three minutes for Atlético Tucumán, on 15 and 18, both from Lautaro Godoy's passes. Banfield drew level in the second half: Alexander Machado pulled one back on 58 from Tomás Adoryan's pass and Lautaro Martín Gómez made it 2–2 on 78.

Tigre 1–0 Sarmiento: Junior Marabel missed a penalty for Sarmiento on 35, and the Junín side were down to nine: Gastón González was sent off on 50 and Lucas Suárez on 55. Santiago López Grobin, from Jabes Saralegui's pass, won it for Tigre on 70. Sarmiento, who started the round eighth, finished ninth in Zona B, a point behind Huracán.

Saturday 7 November

Gimnasia de Mendoza 1–1 Independiente Rivadavia: the Mendoza derby was played almost entirely with the visitors down to ten, as José Ignacio Florentín of Independiente Rivadavia was sent off on 17. Germán Guiffrey, from Facundo Lencioni's pass, put Gimnasia de Mendoza ahead on 45; Luciano César Cingolani of the hosts was shown red on 84, and Luis Ángel Díaz Cuesta equalised on 90+5. The point was enough for both: Gimnasia finished eighth in Zona A and Independiente Rivadavia seventh in Zona B.

Talleres 1–1 Estudiantes de La Plata: an own goal by Román Daniel Riquelme put Estudiantes de La Plata ahead on 38, and Alexandro Maidana, from Emiliano Miguel Chiavassa's pass, equalised for Talleres on 52. Talleres had six shots on target; Estudiantes, two.

Argentinos Juniors 0–2 Huracán: Oscar Cortés put Huracán ahead on 8 and Bruno Barticciotto added the second on 31, both from Facundo Kalinger's passes. In between, Argentinos lost Franco Paredes, sent off on 25, and their coach, Nicolás Diez, who was shown red on 29. Huracán had nine shots on target. According to La Nación, the defeat ended a run of 30 home matches unbeaten for Argentinos and cost them their chance of the title, although third place in the annual table gives them a place in the next Copa Libertadores.

Boca 1–0 Defensa y Justicia was decided with the last kick. The VAR ruled out a goal by Miguel Merentiel for offside in the first half, La Nación reports, and Enner Valencia, from Lautaro Di Lollo's pass, made it 1–0 on 90+6, after a poor clearance by the goalkeeper Matías Borgogno, according to the same paper. Boca had 62 per cent of the ball, 22 shots and ten corners; Defensa had one shot on target. Valencia dedicated the title to Juan Román Riquelme: "he brought me to the biggest club on the continent", he said, according to La Nación.

Rosario Central 2–0 Estudiantes de Río Cuarto: Julián Fernández, from Gastón Ávila's pass, put Central ahead on 44; Ávila was sent off on 72 and Emanuel Coronel added the second on 86. Estudiantes de Río Cuarto had a single shot in the whole match. Central won Zona B with 34 points, but Boca's goal left them a point short in the annual table.

Instituto 2–2 Newell's: Facundo Suárez put Instituto ahead on 7 from Jhon Córdoba's pass. Newell's turned it round through Walter Núñez, on 66 from Jerónimo Gómez Mattar's pass, and Walter Mazzantti, on 79 from Francisco Scarpeccio's, but Matías Tissera, from Diego Alejandro Sosa's pass, equalised on 90+3. Instituto finished top of Zona A with 34 points.

Sunday 8 November

Central Córdoba 1–1 Lanús: an own goal by Tomás Guidara put Central Córdoba ahead on 31, and Eduardo Salvio, from Marcelino Moreno's pass, equalised for Lanús on 41. Lanús had 61 per cent of the ball and 23 shots, four on target. The draw left them fifth in Zona A, and Lanús will play their last-16 tie away.

The zones after round 16

Points, with matches played in brackets. The top eight in each zone go through to the last 16; the bar marks the cut.

• Zona A: Instituto 34 (16); Boca 33 (16); Vélez 28 (16); Defensa y Justicia 28 (16); Lanús 26 (16); Newell's 23 (16); Independiente 23 (16); Gimnasia de Mendoza 22 (16) | Unión 21 (16); Platense 20 (16); San Lorenzo 19 (16); Estudiantes de La Plata 16 (16); Talleres 13 (16); Deportivo Riestra 12 (16); Central Córdoba 11 (16).
• Zona B: Rosario Central 34 (16); Argentinos Juniors 31 (16); Gimnasia de La Plata 31 (16); River 26 (16); Barracas Central 26 (16); Belgrano 23 (16); Independiente Rivadavia 23 (16); Huracán 22 (16) | Sarmiento 21 (16); Tigre 19 (16); Atlético Tucumán 18 (16); Banfield 15 (16); Racing 15 (16); Aldosivi 11 (16); Estudiantes de Río Cuarto 9 (16).

Instituto won Zona A with 34 points, one more than Boca, and Central won Zona B with 34, three more than Argentinos and Gimnasia de La Plata, who are separated by goal difference, plus six to plus five. At the cut, Huracán went through eighth in Zona B with 22 points and knocked out Sarmiento, and Gimnasia de Mendoza eighth in Zona A with 22, one more than Unión. The race chart shows how Central, who took nothing from the first round, won their last five matches and pulled away from Argentinos, who lost in the last round.

In the annual table, according to La Nación, Boca finished with 63 points, Central with 62 and Argentinos with 60, and all three go to the 2027 Copa Libertadores.

Numbers to know

• 34 goals in 15 matches: seven home wins, three away wins and five draws.
• Ten sent off: nine players, two of them from Sarmiento, and the Argentinos coach.
• Three stoppage-time goals decided or saved matches: Valencia on 90+6, Díaz Cuesta on 90+5 and Tissera on 90+3.
• C. Tarragona of Unión finished the zone stage as top scorer, with 17; A. Módica, J. Marabel and J. Caicedo have 14.
• Instituto and Central finished on 34 points; Central and Lanús conceded 12 goals, the fewest in the tournament.

Next up

According to Infobae, the last 16 is played over the weekend of 21 and 22 November, as single matches at the home of the higher-placed side: Instituto v Huracán, Rosario Central v Gimnasia de Mendoza, Boca v Independiente Rivadavia, Argentinos Juniors v Independiente, Vélez v Belgrano, Gimnasia de La Plata v Newell's, Defensa y Justicia v Barracas Central and River v Lanús. The final, according to the same paper, is on Saturday 12 December at the Estadio Único in La Plata, and Boca and River can only meet in it. The ties and kick-off times will be on the Liga Profesional page.

Sources for the context: La Nación, La Nación, La Nación, Infobae.