Defensa y Justicia rise to sixth in Argentine top flight

Buenos Aires, July 3 Nicolas Fernandez struck a superb second-half goal as Defensa y Justicia kept alive their hopes of a top-four finish with 1-0 home win over Tigre in Argentina's Primera Division.

Fernandez gave his side the lead when he combined with Kevin Gutierrez before curling a long-range effort into the top-left corner, reports Xinhua.

Tigre dominated possession and had several chances to equalize in the second half but were unable to find a way past goalkeeper Enrique Bologna, who made eight saves throughout the match.

Defensa y Justicia are now sixth in the 28-team standings with 36 points from 22 games, 11 points ahead of 19th-placed Tigre.

In other Argentine top flight fixtures on Sunday, Banfield won 1-0 at Argentinos Juniors, Instituto prevailed 1-0 at Belgrano, Racing Club prevailed 4-0 at Colon and Independiente edged to a 1-0 home win over Huracan.