The Estadio Diego Armando Maradona hosted a tense, attritional affair Friday night as Argentinos Juniors were held to a 0-0 draw by a resilient Central Córdoba de Santiago, despite dominating from start to finish. For all their possession and attacking intent, the hosts could not breach a backline that, through grit and a flurry of cards, held firm to take a precious away point.

From the outset, the pattern was clear: Argentinos dictating the tempo, stretching a deep-lying Córdoba defense that oscillated between five and, as the match wore on, sometimes six at the back. Tomas Molina had the game’s first real chance, testing Aguerre with a low drive in the 17th minute, but the Córdoba keeper was alert.

Central Córdoba’s approach was pragmatic and increasingly physical. Within the opening seven minutes, Gastón Verón picked up the first of what would become a remarkable eight yellow cards for the visitors. By the final whistle, they finished with just ten men after Juan Pablo Pignani earned a second yellow for a stoppage-time foul and was promptly dismissed.

The match’s pivotal period came in the second half. Argentinos ramped up their pressure, with Hernán López Muñoz bending a shot inches wide at the hour mark and Lautaro Giaccone narrowly missing at the back post after a clever set-piece routine in the 74th minute. The home crowd’s frustration grew with each squandered chance, their side’s eight corners yielding little against a disciplined, if desperate, defense.

As fouls piled up and tempers frayed, Córdoba’s defensive resolve never wavered. Aguerre made a spectacular reflex stop to deny Federico Fattori from close range in the 82nd minute—arguably the match’s standout save—before Pignani’s late red card gave Argentinos a final man advantage. Nonetheless, the hosts failed to capitalize, muffling their best chance in stoppage time as substitute Nicolás Oroz blazed over from just inside the area.

For Argentinos Juniors, who remain sixth, the result felt like two points dropped, especially given their territorial dominance and the visitors’ lone shot on target. Central Córdoba, meanwhile, will savor a hard-earned draw on the road, their disciplinary record a blemish but their defensive structure a credit to Omar De Felippe’s tactical discipline.

The Maradona faithful left disappointed, but respectful of a Central Córdoba side that, for all its rough edges, earned every bit of a gritty point.