Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sept 5: Rolando Schiavi hit the winning goal as Boca Juniors won 1-0 at Independiente in the Argentine Apertura championship Sunday.
Schiavi's half-volley from a Diego Rivero corner in the 50th minute sealed the points and moved unbeaten Boca into second place behind surprise early leader Atletico Rafaela.
Rafaela continued its fine form, advancing to 12 points from five games with a 1-0 success at fellow top flight newcomer Union to maintain a point advantage over Boca.
Also Sunday, San Martin drew 0-0 with Argentinos Juniors and Olimpo beat Velez Sarsfield 2-1.
In other weekend results, it was Newell's Old Boys 0, Colon 0; Tigre 1, Banfield 0; San Lorenzo 0, Belgrano 1; Arsenal 1, Godoy Cruz 2; All Boys 0, Racing Club 0; Lanus 2, Estudiantes 1.
In the second division, River Plate failed to win for the first time; drawing 1-1 at Quilmes on Saturday to allow Rosario Central to draw level at the top on 10 points from four matches.
Boca was still missing injured playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme for the trip to Buenos Aires derby rival Independiente but confirmed its title credentials with a hard-fought win.
Schiavi's winner followed a corner from Rivero that the Independiente defense failed to clear. The ball fell to the tall defender almost on the penalty spot and he hit a low shot on the bounce past home goalkeeper Fabian Assmann.
Boca trails Atletico Rafaela by a point after the Santa Fe club got its fourth win in five from the short trip to cross-state rival Union.
The winning goal came in the 19th minute when Alexis Castro's corner was helped on by Martin Zbrun at the near post, and Union defender Juan Pablo Cardenas deflected the ball into his own goal.
Jeronimo Barrales had a chance to equalize but his penalty was saved by Guillermo Sara.
The win gave Rafaela its third straight victory and a lead atop the standings from Boca and Lanus.
Elsewhere, Racing had Matias Martinez sent off in the 73rd minute against All Boys, but neither side could find a breakthrough in a scoreless draw.
The result maintains Racing's unbeaten start and moved the club up to nine points, while All Boys remains in the bottom half of the standings.
In Sunday's final match, Nestor Bareiro scored the winning goal for Olimpo against defending champion Velez with a first-time finish from a left-wing cross in the 71st minute.
Martin Rolle had put Olimpo ahead in the 11th minute, with Guillermo Franco leveling in the 40th.
Franco should have scored a second equalizer but missed a penalty in the 81st to grant Olimpo a surprise win.
The result left Velez on nine points, with Olimpo improving to five. AP
