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 team captain 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 twelfth of the season. However Aguilera's goal leaves Salamanca down in eleventh place, losing touch with the teams above them.

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. Moreno came close to increasing their lead, and Burgos manager Enrique Martín, not happy with his team's performance, made three changes at half time. Ramón saved well from Isailovic, and Mendoza cleared off the line from Alberdi as the visitors came back, but the Andalucians held on to take the three points. Schuster brought back his biggest signing Lardín in the second half after several weeks out of favour.

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. This was Murcia's first win in the Condomina stadium in two months and they climb out of the relegation zone to eighteenth.

Racing Santander closed up to within a point of Recreativo with a 2-0 win over Jaén on Saturday evening. 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 on a breakaway 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 drop a place to sixteenth, only three points above the bottom four.

After five draws in a row Oviedo finally managed a victory in the league. Their 2-1 win over Racing Ferrol on Saturday puts them back in the race for promotion, and they stayed in fifth place by the end of the weekend, only three points now away from third place. 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. The Gallicians lose their third game in a row, and they drop to the bottom half of the table.

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 with his third goal in five days 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 after a mistake by Alex. Numancia drop into the bottom four having gone six games without a win, and are looking increasingly like relegation candidates for the second year in a row.

Eibar moved back up to seventh place behind Albacete after beating Extremadura 0-1 in Almendralejo. The visitors dominated the first half and Solaun headed the only goal of the game from Kortina's cross with a quarter of an hour gone. Ortuondo brought on Kiko at half time to join Pier, who had returned to the side after missing a game through injury, but although Kiko went close a couple of times they could not get past Iru. This was Extremadura's second defeat in a row, and they drop back down to fifteenth place.

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. The Asturians' exciting young striker Villa was called up for Spain's under-21 squad for next week's game at Andorra after scoring seven goals in four matches, but for once he was kept under control by his marker Benja. Meca hit a spectacular winner five minutes from the end for the hosts to take his side away from the danger zone and up to twelfth place.

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 when Fabao fouled Maurice. Moro had been arrested by police on Friday night for refusing to take a breathalyser test. 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, the referee allowing the goal to stand even though the striker was offside. Moso kept his side in the game with some good saves, but his forwards could not break down the visitors' defence in front of a packed crowd. Leganés move 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. Cantarero took over as new manager of the Valencia based team, but with their opponents putting out a side with seven new signings they were no match for the Andalucians. Sergio Cruz scored the winner heading home a Raúl García free kick in the first half, and both keepers, Segura and Jon Ander, made sure no further additions were made to the scoreline. Poli stay at the foot of the table but close up to within two points of their opponents.