Banfield snatched a dramatic late victory at the Estadio Claudio Chiqui Tapia, edging Barracas Central 2-1 to keep their own play-off hopes alive — and, as OneFootball reported, leave the hosts sweating on their passage into the round of 16 when the round concludes. It was a finish that encapsulated the encounter: frantic, competitive, and decided by a moment of clinical finishing when it mattered most.
The visitors made the brighter start, and inside eight minutes had their reward. Tiziano Perrotta met Santiago López García's delivery from the right and swept past the Barracas defence to give Banfield an early foothold. Yet the hosts refused to panic. Just eight minutes later, Nicolás Demartini levelled the affair with an opportunistic finish, drawing the crowd at the stadium and setting up what would prove an intense midfield battle.
With 65% possession across the full 90 minutes, Barracas dominated territory throughout the first half, though Banfield's defensive shape — marshalled superbly by Facundo Sanguinetti — remained resolute. The hosts carved out chances but lacked the precision to extend their advantage, whilst the visitors remained dangerous on the counter-attack. By half-time, the contest was perfectly poised.
The second period saw Banfield inject fresh legs with three substitutions inside a 20-minute spell around the hour mark: Neyder Moreno arrived on 61 minutes, followed by a double change on the 70th as David Zalazar and Santiago Esquivel entered the fray. Barracas, too, reshuffled aggressively — Norberto Briasco and Iván Tapia were introduced before Rodrigo Bogarín, Damián Martínez, and Facundo Bruera all arrived in the closing stages. Yet despite dominating possession and piecing together 17 shots — six of which found the target — the hosts could not find the breakthrough.
Barracas goalkeeper Juan Espínola was the night's standout performer, rated 8.3 for his distribution and command of the area across the full 90 minutes. His presence kept his side in the contest even as chances came and went. Yet on 90 minutes, with the game teetering on a knife-edge, Banfield struck the decisive blow. Santiago López García, who had tormented Barracas down the right throughout, swept home at the death from Santiago Daniele's assist to cap a dramatic comeback and consign the hosts to what OneFootball described as a qualification peril.
Banfield's composure in the final minute — when lesser sides might have wilted under Barracas' late siege — proved the difference. With eight shots on goal to the hosts' six, the visitors were more clinical when it counted. Damián Martínez's yellow card on 89 minutes for the hosts summed up the desperation creeping into Barracas' play as time ebbed away.
The defeat leaves Barracas Central facing an anxious wait to discover whether their Zone B qualification hopes survive the completion of the round. Banfield, meanwhile, have answered their own questions about tournament viability with a gutsy away performance. Both sides will regroup knowing that in a crowded Liga Profesional, margins remain wafer-thin.