The draw that changes nothing
All Boys 1–1 Central Norte. Nicolás Barrientos, Fabricio Hass, Tomás Castro, Francisco Borda, Mauricio Rosales all took the field, and the result still leaves the club stranded in the bottom three of Zona A, 16th of 18, with a goal difference of minus nine (4). A point at home against a fellow struggler is not a bad night on paper. In practice, it is a game All Boys needed to win, and everyone inside Floresta knows it.
The Ferro loss still defines the week
Sandwiched around that draw is the result that hurts more: Ferro 1–0 All Boys, decided by a penalty from Emanuel Dening that All Boys players and staff considered dubious (6) (7). Ferro are the league leaders, the superlíder of the Nacional, and they went on to celebrate a title-chasing win in Caballito (9). Losing away to the best team in the group is survivable. Losing that way, by a single questionable spot-kick, leaves a mark. Gabriel Ramírez and the rest of the squad were furious, and they have every right to be.
The recurring trend is simple: not enough goals
The numbers are blunt. All Boys sit on 27 points from 26 games, with a minus nine goal difference, one point above the relegation zone (3). The 1–1 against Central Norte was a chance to climb, and it slipped away. The 1–0 against Ferro was a chance to prove the squad can compete with the best, and the margin was one penalty. This is the pattern of the season: All Boys are rarely blown out, and rarely win. That is exactly how you end up 16th.
What to watch
Next comes Chaco For Ever, at home, in Fecha 26, and the previews already frame it as a meeting of two teams fighting gravity (2). Chaco For Ever arrive off a high-scoring win that has them celebrating (10). All Boys arrive one point above the danger line. Win that match and there is air. Drop points and the pressure becomes something else entirely. This is the fixture where the season really starts.
