SIX players sent off in Superclasico after a massive River Plate Boca Juniors fight

Even by Superclasico standards, it was a hysterical ending to one of the fiercest rivalries in all of football on Sunday night between Boca Juniors and River Plate in Argentina.

Six players were sent off in added time – three from each team – when a huge brawl erupted shortly after a late and ultimately decisive River penalty had put them 1-0 up against Boca.

Stewards and riot police had to intervene to help split the teams up and when things finally cooled down, the referee sent off three players from each side as well as the Boca coach, Jorge Almiron.

River, coached by Martin Demichelis, held on for victory thanks to Miguel Borja’s spot-kick at home at the Estadio Monumental.

Quite how the brawl began was unclear. Borja kept his nerve in the most intense of circumstances, sending former Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero the wrong way in the 93rd minute.

The stadium, packed with 83,000 supporters, erupted into sheer euphoria and most of Borja’s teammates mobbed him as if it was a World Cup final winning goal.

But as the celebrations on the field continued, some of Borja’s teammates were distracted by a clash with the Boca team – a clash which soon consumed almost everyone on both teams.

CBS Sports suggested on commentary that the scrap may have been started by Romero coming to blows with Uruguay international midfielder Nicolas de la Cruz of River Plate, but in a mere matter of seconds everyone was involved. 

Added time ended up lasting an incredible 19 minutes, with the referee sending off Agustin Palavecino, Ezequiel Ignacio Centurion and Elias Gomez of River and Miguel Merentiel, Ezequiel Fernandez and Nicolas Valentini of Boca.

The penalty that won the game for River was given when Agustin Sanchez fouled Pablo Solari. 

Borja’s successful penalty mean that River and Demichelis hold a nine-point lead at the summit of the Argentina Primera Division, although second-place Ssn Lorenza have played a game less.

Boca, meanwhile, are languishing down in 13th place in the standings.