Newell's Old Boys take over at top

Published Sep. 24, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Newell's Old Boys moved into first place in Argentina's first division with a 2-1 victory on Sunday at Colon.

Ignacio Scocco gave Newell's the lead in the 12th minute and Marco Caceres scored the clincher in the 61st. Lucas Mugni scored late for Colon.

Boca Juniors, who could have taken the lead with a victory on Sunday, lost 2-0 to 10-man Lanus.

Newell's leads with 18 points. Velez trails by one and Boca is two behind. Belgrano trails by three.

Mario Regueiro scored in the 33rd for Lanus, but was sent off three minutes later. Boca was powerless to make the most of the man advantage and fell behind 2-0 on Diego Valeri's deciding goal in the 87th.

Despite Boca's recent success, the loss will keep the pressure on coach Julio Falcioni. Falcioni got Boca to the final of last season's Copa Libertadores, but his defensive style has failed to satisfy many Boca fans.

''We could not connect despite ending up with four forwards,'' Falcioni said.

In other results on Sunday: Racing beat River Plate 1-0 and San Martin downed Quilmes 4-0.

The big loser on Sunday was probably River Plate, which fell to Racing on Matias Cahais' header. River, which just returned to the first division, has only nine points in nine matches and is already looking again at relegation.

Angry fans at River's Monumental stadium called for the firing of coach Matias Almeyda. Fans also chanted for club president Daniel Passarella to step down.

Almeyda skipped a post-game press conference, but Passarella offered support.

''He (Almeyda) will continue as coach,'' he said. ''You have to have patience.''

In other weekend matches it was: Belgrano 1, Godoy Cruz 0; Rafaela 3, Tigre 0; Argentinos Juniors 3, Union 3; San Lorenzo 1, Velez 2; Independiente 1, All Boys 1.

Arsenal plays Monday at Estudiantes.