Second division, day 19

Murcia and Levante moved to within a point of leaders Zaragoza after both won on Sunday, the former by 2-0 over Tenerife and the latter by 1-0 over Racing Ferrol. With a four point gap opening up between fourth placed Albacete and fifth placed Elche, who surprisingly lost their unbeaten home record after losing 0-1 to Badajoz, it now appears a four horse race for the three promotion spots. An incredible score on Sunday lunchtime at Leganés, where the home side beat Almería 5-2 to move away from the bottom spots. Otherwise though it was another low scoring weekend, with the five games on Sunday evening only producing three goals between them. One of them was at Gijon, where Sporting moved further up the table after beating Eibar 1-0. Salamanca recorded their fifth 0-0 draw in a row, this time at home to struggling Oviedo, and there was the same result in the game between Córdoba and Compostela, which only took place because the visiting players called off their strike after getting paid a month's back wages. Finally Getafe sacked their manager Felines today after his side dropped into the bottom four, and Pepe Mel will take over on Monday. Córdoba's Ortuondo could be the next to go. (19.01.03)

Four games on Saturday evening, all of which ended in draws. Leaders Zaragoza drew 0-0 at fourth placed Albacete to ensure top spot for another week at least, even though the match was a real sleeper. A scoreless game as well between Las Palmas and Numancia, with the only chances falling to the visitors, and all square too in the games between Xerez and Terrassa (2-2) and Poli Ejido and Getafe (1-1). (18.01.03)