With the top four all playing on Sunday, Getafe took advantage to move up into the promotion spots level with leaders Numancia and Levante after beating Elche 3-1. The visitors got off the mark first though, Nino getting behind the defence with a quarter of an hour gone to beat Sergio Sánchez. But Pachón equalised later in the half, and Vivar Dorado and Cubillo could both have put the locals ahead before the break. There was a brief flurry from the visitors after the restart, with Nino in particular heading against the bar. But two goals in a minute finished them off, Craioveanu crashing a shot past the keeper and Pachón getting his second of the night with an individualist effort only seconds later. The defeat left Elche down in the bottom half of the table, and coach Oscar Ruggeri was sacked the same evening, the twentieth manager to be fired this season in the second division. Curiously Ruggeri's predecessor García Granero was also given the boot after playing against Getafe earlier in the season.

With five games to go, Recreativo Huelva have still not given up hope of promotion, and they closed up on the top five with a 1-0 win over Poli Ejido. It was a dull match though, and the game didn't warm up until five minutes after the restart when Uche fired in a shot from the edge of the area to open the scoring. The Nigerian forward could have added to the scoreline soon afterwards if Kike had not been attentive, and the keeper also stopped another effort from Manu del Moral minutes later. Ejido drop into the bottom four as a result of their defeat, and they have not won now in seven games, the last four prior to this one being goal-less draws.

Cádiz stayed a point behind Recre after a 4-1 victory over struggling Las Palmas, who drop further down into the relegation zone as a result. The match was dominated by a strong gale, and the first goal came from the Canary Islanders when Kily González fired a wind-assisted shot from just over the half way line which caught Navas off guard. Everything changed though when the teams swapped ends, and Iván Espadas headed the equaliser from Dani Navarrete's free kick ten minutes after the restart. With a quarter of an hour to go the visitors were left with ten men when Kily picked up a second booking, and the locals took advantage to score three more, Navarrete setting up Oli and then finding the head of Iván Espadas with another free kick before De Quintana wrapped things up in injury time.

Leganés crept out of the bottom four to the detriment of Poli Ejido after holding Málaga B to a 0-0 scoreline, their sixth draw in a row. The Madrid based side put out a defensive line-up and sat back to grind out a result, only allowing a couple of headers from César Navas to get close to Raúl's net in the first half. The visitors' only reply was an effort from Txiki which Goitia saved, and the Andalucians were unlucky not to take the lead after the break, Nacho breaking free but shooting wide with the goal at his mercy and Juanma hitting the post with another shot a couple of minutes later. Leganés could have snatched it in the end though with two dangerous free kicks from substitute Kuhl which Goitia and his defence kept out. (15.05.04)

Alavés moved temporarily to the top of the table pending the afternoon games after beating struggling Rayo Vallecano 3-0 on Sunday lunchtime. It was a comfortable victory for Pepe Mel's side, who took the lead in the eleventh minute when Kiko got behind the defence to collect a long pass from Palermo and score. The young striker could have got another soon afterwards had Saja not stuck out a foot to stop his shot, but on the stroke of half time Magno made it two with a shot which deflected in off the back of a defender, and four minutes after the restart he set up Sarriegi to head in his corner from close range. Things got worse for Rayo when Graff was sent off for a second bookable offence midway through the second half, but the locals eased off towards the end with the game already in the bag. Txetxu Rojo's side sink further into the bottom four though having only taken two points from their last seven games, and the possibility of relegation gets closer every day. The club's owners, the Ruiz Mateo family, have decided to stick with them though, and say they will carry on if even if they go down.

Only three points separate the top five sides after Sunday evening's games, and it is anybody's guess right now who will occupy the three promotion spots at the end of the season. Levante moved two points clear at the top of the table after beating Salamanca 0-1, and the Valencia based side have now only lost once in the last ten games. It was a dull match though, particularly in the first half where neither keeper had much to do. Tuni tested Levante's Mora though only a minute or so in to the second half, and shot wide on the follow up. But after that the visitors took control, and Reggi scored what was to be the only goal of the game twenty minutes from the end, losing his marker to head the ball past Stelea.

Manolo Preciado's team moved clear of last week's joint leaders Numancia after the Soria based side were held to a 1-1 draw at Almería. The goals came early on, Juanma setting up Francisco for him to lob Luis García and put the locals ahead with less than a minute on the clock, and Antonio levelling the scores ten minutes later with a header from Mikel Alonso's corner. Both sides had chances after that, the most clear being efforts from Ortíz and Víctor Salas for the hosts either side of half time and second half substitute Riaño for the visitors, but eventually they had to settle for a point each which keeps Numancia in the promotion spots and takes the Andalucians two points clear of the drop zone.

Sporting Gijon stay in fourth place, a point behind Numancia and Alavés, after a convincing 4-1 win over Ciudad Murcia. Both keepers were in action in the opening minutes, Ciudad's Alberto Cifuentes saving well from Miguel and Ismael and Roberto keeping out Güiza at the other end. But five minutes before the break Joao Pinto deflected a shot from Ismael past his own keeper, and soon after the restart the Asturians went two up with a Bilic penalty after the referee ruled that Manel had fouled Miguel in the area, a decision which was strongly disputed by the visitors. Miguel added a third himself before the hour mark after Bilic headed on Ismael's cross, and Rubén got the goal of the night from the halfway line not long after coming on as substitute. Miguel and Ismael could have got more, but with the game coming to a close Kaiku sent Godino away on a breakaway for him to score a late consolation goal. .

The fight to avoid relegation is also going to be tight, and there still are only five points between tenth placed Tenerife and Poli Ejido, who are currently nineteenth. Tenerife came from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Eibar, extending their unbeaten run to seven games. The Basques took the lead in the tenth minute when Cuevas rounded Enke to score, and Saizar came close to making it two when he got past the keeper put couldn't find the angle. Raúl Martín went close for the Canary Islanders with a back-heel which hit the side netting, but Enke had to be at his best to keep out Cuevas and Saizar after the interval. Gradually though Tenerife got back in the game, Keko testing Basauri twice, and the striker finally beat the keeper with a well struck free kick a quarter of an hour from the end. And Keko was unlucky not to win it for his side in the end when he had a late goal controversially disallowed.

Córdoba are back in trouble after losing 1-2 to Andalucian rivals Xerez, and they are only ahead of Poli Ejido and Leganés thanks to a better goal average. The match got off to a lively start but neither side could find the final touch, Calle and Cachorro for the visitors and Villa for the locals all wasting easy chances. Mena and Montengro also rattled the crossbars at both ends, and it was not until three minutes before the interval that the deadlock was broken, Dani Pendín's shot taking a deflection off a defender to wrong-foot Javi Valero. The home side came out after the break looking for the equaliser, and after Unanua saved from Villa and Txiki, Pulpo González intercepted a bad back pass and set up Villa to score. But only three minutes later Català got on the end of a free kick to head past the keeper and virtually ensure second division football for Xerez next season. Córdoba have not won at home now in three months, and manager Miguel Angel Portugal could be the next to join the ever-increasing list of second division managers on the dole.

Bottom club Algeciras are well adrift of the rest, and they could be mathematically down next week despite beating Terrassa 2-1 this Sunday. The Andalucians took the lead midway through the first half when Chico headed Tevenet's centre past Morales, but the visitors could have equalised when Méndez and Juan Carlos both put efforts wide either side of half time. Maikel eventually did beat Iñaki to level the scores with a quarter of the game still to go, but Armentano got on the end of José Marí's cross ten minutes from the end to head the winning goal. The defeat means the Catalans are still not safe, even though they currently occupy eleventh spot in the table. (16.05.04)