River Plate seal Argentine title with five-goal rout
By Rex Gowar
BUENOS AIRES(Reuters) - Captain Fernando Cavenaghi scored twice as River Plate crushed Quilmes 5-0 to win their 35th Argentine league title at a delirious Monumental on Sunday.
River won the Final championship, the second of two in the season, with a five-point margin over Boca Juniors, Estudiantes and Godoy Cruz in joint second place. San Lorenzo won the season's first title, the Inicial.
Unbeaten in their last seven matches, River notched their eighth successive victory at the Monumental, their formidable home form proving decisive in their campaign.
Boca leapt into second place thanks to their fifth win in a row, 1-0 over Gimnasia. Estudiantes lost 2-1 at Tigre and Godoy Cruz beat Racing Club 2-1 in Mendoza.
River went in front after 10 minutes when Cavenaghi swooped on a rebound and fired the ball into the roof of the net after goalkeeper Walter Benitez had dived to block a Carlos Carbonero shot.
The home side pulled further ahead at a 25th minute corner with centre back Jonathan Maidana glancing the ball across goal with his head at the near post and right back Gabriel Mercado scoring with a diving header at the far post for his second goal in two matches.
Holding midfielder Cristian Ledesma scored a brilliant third goal in the 63rd minute with a shot from 30 metres into the top corner and Cavenaghi made it four seven minutes later from Teofilo Gutierrez's perfect through-ball to the right.
DIAZ RECORD
World Cup-bound Colombia striker Gutierrez put the icing on the cake, finishing off a counter-attack in stoppage time with the fifth from playmaker Manuel Lanzini's pass.
It was a record eighth title as River coach for Ramon Diaz, in his third spell at the club where he shone as a striker in the 1980s.
It was also River's first title since 2008 when Diego Simeone, whose Atletico Madrid were crowned Spanish champions on Saturday, was in charge and will help heal the wounds of the Argentina giants' first ever relegation three years ago.
Estudiantes were in second place with a chance to snatch the title going into the final round of matches but were unable to send veteran captain Juan Sebastian Veron into retirement on a winning note.
Godoy Cruz's victory secured their top flight survival, having flirted with relegation, which is measured by teams' average points over three seasons.
Atletico Rafaela, who won 2-1 at Arsenal, and Colon, who scored in added time to beat Olimpo by the same score, will meet in a relegation playoff on Wednesday after both finished with the same three-season points average.
Argentinos Juniors and All Boys have already been relegated.
(Editing by Ian Ransom)