Second Division A - Day 16

Few changes in the second division this week, with no less than seven of the eleven games ending in draws, of which five with 1-1 scorelines. Leaders Tenerife held on to the top spot after coming from behind twice against Eibar to draw 2-2. Luis García saved the leaders a point with a goal in the last minute, and he is now the second division's top scorer with nine goals. The match of the day was at Sevilla, where the home side defeated Atlético Madrid 3-1 to move to within a point of Tenerife. Unbeaten at home this season, Sevilla were already three up shortly after the half time interval with goals from Víctor, Olivera and Diego Ribera, and Salva pulled one back for the visitors later in the half. Referee Navas Lasa produced twelve yellow cards and three red in a heated match, sending off Sevilla's Víctor and Atletico's López and Correa. Atlético drop back down towards the relegation spots, and their manager Marcos Alonso may only have a few hours left in charge, although new general manager Paulo Futre has so far given him his support.

Third and fourth placed teams Albacete and Betis drew 0-0, and with the five teams below them all drawing 1-1, they hold on to their places. The match was overshadowed by referee Valle Gil, who showed a red card to Betis reserve keeper Valerio before the game after the fourth official overhead him insulting the referee in the tunnel. Recreativo held on to fifth spot with a 1-1 draw at Levante, their eighth game in a row without defeat. Oscar equalised for them in the second half with their only shot at goal in 90 minutes after Salillas had given the Valencia based team the lead. Córdoba got a point at Salamanca in a game which followed the same pattern, Munteanu giving the home side the lead in the first half and Juanito equalising in the second. Yet another 1-1 result at Murcia, with the home side thinking they had done enough to win with a Luis Gil goal four minutes from time but Jon Bakero headed home in the last minute to give bottom club Universidad Las Palmas a valuable point.

The big winners of the day were Sporting Gijon, who beat Compostela 5-2 to rise up to seventh, and Jaén, who won at Getafe 0-1 to go back up to tenth. Sporting were behind to an Anxo goal in the fourth minute, but two penalties from Ledhiakov in a six minute spell followed by a strike from Soto gave them the lead before Gudelj pulled one back with another penalty before the break. Adauto Da Silva and Kamatcho added two more after the interval. Jaén's victory came from a non-existent penalty which Pepelu converted in the first half, leaving Getafe with only one victory at home in eight games. Elche were the only other team to win, beating Extremadura 1-2. Nano had given them an early lead, but after Ismael levelled the scores in the second half it looked as if honours would be shared before Changui got a last minute winner. Both teams are down in the second half of the table, level on 20 points.

Down at the bottom, Racing Ferrol and Lleida both picked up a point in their respective matches to close up on Compostela and Getafe. Ferrol drew 1-1 away at Leganés, Nogueira saving a point after Javi Venta had given the Madrid based side the lead. Lleida were held at home to the same score by Badajoz, who have now drawn nine of their matches. As in all five of the games that ended with that scoreline, the home team scored first, this time through Simeón, with Pepín beating Busquets in the second half for the point. Lleida stay next to bottom, two points behind Universidad who have nine points.

Results