The point that looks like a defeat
All Boys 0–0 Chaco For Ever at Islas Malvinas, and nobody in Floresta should pretend that is fine. Two points from the relegation zone, 28 games played, and the chance to put real distance between themselves and the drop handed away at home (2). Not beaten, but not braver either. The Blanquinegro did not take an opportunity to breathe.
Chaco For Ever came to survive, and they got what they came for. The draw suits the visitors far more than it suits All Boys, and the table proves it (4). A team sitting 12th in an 18-team group with a negative goal difference does not have the luxury of playing out goalless draws at home to direct rivals.
The attack is the problem, not the defence
Read the names on All Boys' attack and then look at the scoreline. Calone, Leguizamón, Apa, all on the pitch, none of them finding a way through (2). The clean sheet is fine. The blank in front of goal is not.
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This is the recurring theme of the season: a side that keeps games tight but cannot turn territory into goals. Eleven teams have scored more. The gap between control and finishing is what keeps All Boys looking over their shoulder instead of up the table.
Nardozza has built a team that is hard to beat. The next step is turning hard to beat into dangerous. Without that step, every match becomes a coin flip decided by a single miss or a single error at the back.
Acassuso next, and they have already blinked
The next test comes fast, away to Acassuso on September 7. And before a ball is kicked, All Boys already know one thing: Acassuso are changing their back line (5). Bellatti is out, Pioli is in alongside Etcheverri, Ghirardello, and Ruiz (5). Opponents reshuffling their defence before playing you is not fear, but it is a signal. They see All Boys as a team you adjust for.
That is the environment All Boys have earned: opponents no longer take the fixture lightly. Now the team has to punish that respect. A clean sheet away from home would be welcome. A goal would be better.
What to watch
September 7 at the Javier Pipo Marín stadium. Pioli's introduction is the tell to watch early, a new-look Acassuso defence testing whether All Boys can finally turn possession into a goal away from home. The margin for error is two points. Every match from now until safety is secured counts like a cup final, because the table says it is.
