Second division - day 27

Leaders Atlético Madrid had serious problems beating Salamanca, but in the end they ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a last minute strike from Aguilera. The visitors played for the last hour with ten men after keeper Tom was sent off for bringing down Fernando Torres in the area, but after Balbuena came on as a replacement Torres fired his spot kick against the post. Nagore did give the hosts the lead in the first half from Aguilera's pass, but after Diego Alonso had a goal disallowed, Makukula made it all square in the second half with his eleventh of the season.

Atlético move on to 56 points, seven still ahead of Xerez who won 1-0 against Burgos. The only goal of the game came in the seventh minute from Mena in one of the most ridiculous incidents of the season, visiting keeper Tito running in to the referee and dropping the ball at the feet of the young striker. Schuster brought back Lardín in the second half after his return to favour, and the Andalucians held on to take the three points.

Recreativo Huelva lose ground on the top two, but still stay in third place after losing 2-0 to relegation candidates Murcia. With David Vidal taking over as their new manager Murcia were a changed side, and they thoroughly deserved their victory which ended Recreativo's twelve match unbeaten run. First half substitute Quintana gave them the lead, and Godina added the second in the last minute past stand-in keeper Loren after César had been sent off with all three substitutions already made. Murcia climb out of the relegation zone to eighteenth.

Albacete were one of the winners of the day, moving up to sixth place with a 3-1 victory over Numancia. Leniz headed them into the lead in the first half and Toril got a second from the penalty spot after Nuñez brought down Dani Ruiz. Alberto pulled one back quarter of an hour from the end, but Pereira restored the two goal lead in the final minutes. Numancia drop into the bottom four having gone six games without a win. Eibar move up to seventh place behind Albacete after beating Extremadura 0-1 in Almendralejo. Solaun headed the only goal of the game from Kortina's cross in the first half.

Sporting Gijon run of four wins in a row came to a grinding halt when they were beaten 1-0 by Elche on Sunday lunchtime. Meca hit the winner five minutes from the end to take his side away from the danger zone. Sporting drop to eighth, level on points with Eibar, Burgos and Badajoz, who beat Córdoba 1-2. Jorge Zafra put the visitors in front, and although Marcos Marquez made it all square before half time, Xavi Moro hit the winning goal from the penalty spot after the interval. Córdoba have only picked up two points in four games under new coach García Remón, and they could be looking for a fifth manager of the season before too long.

Gimnastic Tarraona's new manager Lobo Diarte suffered his first defeat after three wins in a row, his side losing 0-1 to relegation rivals Leganés. The visitors scored in the eighth minute when Sivori deflected a long cross from the right wing past Moso, taking them four points clear of the relegation zone. Nàstic are three points away from getting clear of the bottom four, and stay ahead of Levante who lost 1-0 to bottom club Poli Ejido. Sergio Cruz scored the winner from a free kick in the first half, and Poli close up to within two points of their opponents. (10.02.02)

Racing Santander closed up to within a point of third placed Recreativo pending their game on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Jaén. Their first victory in four games came thanks to second half goals from Mazzoni and Txiki, the first from César's pass early in the half and the second in the final minute. Regueiro got the ball in the net early in the first half with a spectacular overhead kick but it was ruled out for offside, and Jaén responded with a shot against the bar from Pepelu. The visitors didn't manage a shot at goal in all the second half, and they stay down in the bottom half of the table.

After five draws in a row Oviedo finally managed a victory in the league. Their 2-1 win over Racing Ferrol puts them back in the race for promotion, and they will almost certainly stay in fifth place by the end of the weekend. The visitors took the lead however through Delporte with half an hour on the clock, and went in at the break in front. Five minutes after the restart Geni levelled the scores after Oli set him up, and Oli missed a golden opportunity minutes later. Esteban made a couple of great saves as Ferrol came back, but a Tomic free kick five minutes from the end gave the Asturians the victory they needed. (09.02.02)