Second division - day 38

Numancia will be in the first division next season after picking up the point they needed in a 0-0 draw with Alavés on Sunday lunchtime. With the visitors also happy with a point to help them avoid the drop, neither side created too many chances throughout the ninety minutes. The fans didn't care though, and a packed stadium celebrated a return to the top flight after an absence of three years. The other two promotion spots will probably not be decided until the last week or two of the season, third placed Málaga losing ground on Sporting Gijón and Real Sociedad after an extraordinary 4-6 defeat at the hands of Hércules later in the evening. The Andalusians were 3-1 up at half time, and although Hidalgo completed a hat-trick, the visitors scored three in the last ten minutes to steal away the points.

Nobody else is close to the top four however, and Elche are already planning for another season in the second division after a 1-1 draw with Eibar. Celta don't even have a mathematical chance of going up, although they answered criticisms from their fans with a 5-2 win over Cádiz. Perera and Quincy scored two each to leave the Andalusians only three points above the drop zone. Gimnàstic are now level with Cádiz after a 1-0 victory over Sevilla Atlético, Moisés getting the only goal after the break. And Córdoba inched out of the bottom four after a 0-1 win against fellow strugglers Albacete, Acciari's strike taking them above Granada 74 and Alavés on goal difference, one point above the Manchegans who are back in next to bottom spot once again. (18.05.08)

Real Sociedad moved to within a point of the promotion spots after a 3-1 victory over Granada 74 on Saturday evening. All the goals came late on, with Víctor Casadesus opening the scoring from the penalty spot twelve minutes from the end. Martí and Víctor added two more, with Xisco Nadal getting a consolation for the visitors in injury time. The Basque side caught up two points on Sporting Gijón, who climbed above Málaga pending their game on Sunday after drawing 0-0 with Salamanca.

Down in the lower reaches of the table, Xerez are out of the relegation spots after a last gasp 2-1 win over Castellón. The Andalusians were trailing to an Arana goal until the 89th minute, but Antoñito scored two in as many minutes to turn the scoreline around. Racing Ferrol inched further away from the danger zone after a 0-0 draw with Tenerife. But Poli Ejido stay at the bottom of the table after losing 2-1 to Las Palmas, Marcos Márquez getting both goals for the Canary Islanders, with Gerardo equalising momentarily for the visitors in between. (17.05.08)