Buenos Aires, July 29 – Lucas Beltran and Paulo Diaz scored either side of halftime as already crowned champions River Plate secured a 2-1 home win over 10-man Racing Club in their final game of the first stage of Argentina’s Primera Division.
Beltran gave River the lead in the 23rd minute at the Monumental stadium with a close-range finish after Pablo Solari’s cross.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men just before halftime when Gonzalo Piovi was shown a straight red card for a rash tackle on Beltran. The hosts went further ahead in the 71st minute through Diaz, who headed in after a Nacho Fernandez corner.
Jonatan Gomez gave his side a consolation goal through a stoppage-time free-kick that curled into the top left corner on Friday, Xinhua reported.
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The result means that River, who secured the title earlier this month, finished the campaign with 61 points from 27 games, 11 points ahead of second-placed Talleres Cordoba.
Racing are 11th but could drop further down the 28-team standings after the weekend’s other fixtures.
Elsewhere on Friday, Estudiantes won 3-2 at Argentinos Juniors, Union Santa Fe eased to a 2-0 home win over Defensa y Justicia, Newell’s Old Boys were held to a 1-1 home draw by Talleres Cordoba, and Rosario Central drew 0-0 at Belgrano.
