River Plate fails to gain ground on Argentine leader Newell's Old Boys after draw with Union

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — River Plate failed to gain ground on Argentine first-division leader Newell's Old Boys after coming from behind to draw 2-2 with Union on Sunday.

Newell's drew 1-1 at Quilmes on Saturday to move to 29 points, three ahead of River Plate.

Also Sunday, Juan Caicedo of Colombia scored twice to lead Independiente to a 3-1 victory over San Martin.

Rodrigo Mora equalized for River in the 83rd minute, and teammate Rogelio Funes Mori scored the other goal in the 37th. Union led from Andres Franzoia's strike in the 25th and made it 2-0 in the 34th through Juan Cavallaro.

Carlos Bianchi, coach of Argentina's Boca Juniors backdropped by empty stadium seats prior to Argentina's soccer league match against Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, May 18, 2013. The Argentina's soccer federation has ordered Boca Juniors to play in an empty stadium for one game, following disturbances during their last match against River Plate on May 5. (AP Photo/Eduardo Di Baia)

Adding to Caicedo's two goals, Fernando Godoy scored in the 25th for Independiente to make it 1-0. Jorge Luna notched San Martin's goal in the 57th.

In matches on Friday and Saturday, it was: Arsenal 1, Racing 0; Atletico Rafaela 0, Estudiantes 2; Godoy Cruz 3, Velez Sarsfield 1; Quilmes 1, Newell's 1; Boca Juniors 1, Colon 0.

Boca's victory on Saturday — through Juan Manuel Martinez's 48th- minute goal — was played in an empty Bombonera stadium, a penalty set down by the Argentine Football Association following crowd violence in the so-called Superclassico on May 5 between Boca and archrival River.

Fans shot off flares and rockets during that game, causing a 15-minute delay. Many of them landed near players on the field, with the referee threatening briefly to suspend the match.

Two matches are set for Monday: Argentinos Juniors vs. Belgrano and Tigre vs. Lanus.

Lanus, with 27 points from 13 matches, can take over top spot with a victory Monday.

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