Gutierrez inspires River in win over Belgrano

Oct 21, 2014 - 5:07 PM Buenos Aires, Argentina (SportsNetwork.com) - Teofilo Gutierrez scored a pair of goals in the second half to help leaders River Plate to a 3-0 home win over Belgrano, keeping the club four points clear at the top of Argentina's Apertura table.

Leonel Vangioni handed River the lead in the 34th minute when he latched on to a through ball from Ariel Rojas and dispatched his shot into the bottom corner of the net.

The match remained a one-goal affair until the 73rd when Gutierrez notched his first goal of the contest by finishing off a cross Carlos Sanchez, who played provider on the second goal for Gutierrez in similar fashion two minutes from time.

Second-place Lanus kept pace with River by securing a 2-1 win over Defensa y Justicia with goals from Nicolas Pasquini and Jorge Chamorro in the opening 20 minutes.

Independiente stayed in third place with a 2-1 victory at San Lorenzo to remain within five points of River.

Daniel Montenegro tallied the opener in the 32nd minute before Diego Rodriguez doubled the lead from the penalty spot in the second half. Hector Villalba pulled a goal back for San Lorenzo eight minutes from time, but the hosts were unable to manage an equalizer.

Racing is fourth after toppling Velez Sarsfield, 2-0, behind goals from Ricardo Centurion and Gustavo Bou in the first half.

Boca Juniors rallied from 2-1 down to claim a 3-2 victory at Godoy Cruz after goals from Juan Martinez and Jonathan Calleri in the closing 16 minutes.

Rosario Central used first-half goals from Franco Niell and Nery Dominguez to top Newell's, 2-0, Guido Carrillo scored in the 80th minute to help Estudiantes claim a 1-1 draw at Banfield, Gimnasia LP and Olimpo played to a 0-0 draw, Atletico Rafaela and Quilmes also ended 0-0, and Tigre was held to a 1-1 home draw by Arsenal on Monday.