Argentine League Roundup, Dec. 4

Estudiantes beat Argentinos Juniors 3-1 on Saturday and closed in on the Argentina Apertura title.

Ciro Rius scored in the 31st minute for Argentinos and Gaston Fernandez equalized in the 36th.

Maxi Nunez banged in a 12-meter (yard) shot in the 58th minute to break the tie, and Gabriel Mercado made it 3-1 in the 75th.

Estudiantes has 39 points with two matches remaining. Second-place Velez plays on Sunday against Godoy Cruz and could improve to 37 points with a victory. In the next two rounds, Estudiantes face River Plate and Arsenal, and Velez has Huracan and Racing.

"We played as hard as we could and you cannot ask more of a team," Fernandez said.

The only bad news in the match was an early yellow card for Estudiantes playmaker Juan Sebastian Veron. Veron picked up the card after protesting a call and will miss the next match.

Also Saturday, River Plate rallied for a 2-1 victory over Colon behind second-half goals from Eric Lamela and Francisco Pavone. Pavone scored the winner in the 4th minute of second-half stoppage time, connecting from 8 meters (yards) after a defensive mix-up in front of the net.

Ivan Moreno y Fabianesi scored for Colon.

In other results in the 17th round: on Wednesday, Olimpo and Arsenal drew 1-1, and on Friday, All Boys defeated Banfield 2-1 and Racing won against Gimnasia 2-0. Arsenal has 29 points in third place and Racing 28.

In other matches on Sunday it's: San Lorenzo vs. Newell's, Tigre vs. Huracan, Boca Juniors vs. Quilmes, Lanus vs. Independiente.