Xerez moved back to the top of the table pending Poli Ejido's game on Sunday with a 1-0 victory over Pontevedra on Saturday evening. The only goal came from Raúl Molina, who intercepted a bad back pass from Navarro to score a quarter of an hour in to the game. The visitors felt themselves unlucky not be in the lead by then though after Julio Iglesias stopped an early effort after the ball appeared to have crossed the line, and they also protested strongly when the ball hit Dani Pendín on the arm in the penalty area on the hour mark, the referee waving away their appeals. Otherwise though Paco Chaparro's side were in control, and they keep up their record as the only unbeaten team in the second division.

Eibar moved up to third after beating struggling Ciudad Murcia 3-2, a record fifth home win in a row at the Ipurua stadium. The Basque side were three up within half an hour, with Llorente heading them in to the lead and Garitano getting a second from the penalty spot after Javi Fernández fouled Corredoira, and the unfortunate keeper being credited with an own goal after Ferrier's clearance hit him on the back and bounced in to the net. The visitors did get two back in the last ten minutes, Güiza converting a hotly disputed penalty after the referee ruled that Manuel had fouled Cuevas, and then adding another in injury time.

Elche missed out once again on a chance to move back in to the top three after they were beaten 2-0 by Gimnastic Tarragona, a result which takes the Catalans out of the relegation zone. The first goal came against the run of play midway through the first half, Manolo Martínez picking up a return pass from Cuéllar to beat Unanua, after which Nàstic didn't look back. Diego Torres added a second with a long shot a minute after the restart, and only a good performance by Unanua kept the scoreline unaltered from then on.

Lleida and Tenerife cancelled each other out in a 1-1 draw, leaving both sides in the upper half of the table. Both sides had chances throughout the game, with visiting forward Keko in particular having a strike disallowed before the break for the positional offside of a colleague. But the first goal didn't come until a quarter of an hour from the end when Limones put the Canary Islanders ahead after a mistake from keeper Eduardo. The locals were awarded a dubious penalty though five minutes from the end after Keleman brought down Txema (who was to be sent off in the last minute for a second booking), and Nakor stepped up to level the scores. (23.10.04)

Alavés closed back up on the promotion spots with a convincing 4-1 victory over Terrassa on Sunday lunchtime. The visitors almost took the lead in the second minute when Quique Martín hit the post, but otherwise the home side were on top and Rubén Navarro set up Bodipo for him to open the scoring midway through the first half. Martín equalised for the Catalans a few minutes later, but by half time they were two goals down, Nené firing in a free kick which keeper Morales misjudged, and De Lucas converting a penalty after Jordi Navas pulled down Bodipo. Juanma Lillo made three changes early in the second half, but it backfired when Morales was sent off for a push on Navarro in an off the ball incident, and left back Nené had to go in goal for the last half hour. He could do nothing though when Pape Thiaw got on the end of Santamaría's cross to score a fourth goal later on.

Poli Ejido were unable to catch leaders Xerez after being held to a 1-1 at Recreativo on Sunday evening, although they do stay in second place, a point ahead of Eibar. The home side started the day in the relegation spots after Saturday's results, and they came out quickly, Moreno giving them the lead in the tenth minute after picking up a pass from Viqueira. Toedtli had already had one effort cleared off the line by Mario Silva at the other end though, and the ex Sevilla striker levelled the scores midway through the first half with an angled shot across Toño. After that there were few chances, Uche the only one to go close for the locals a couple of times after the break, and both eventually settled for a point.

Fourth placed Racing Ferrol came from a goal down to draw 1-1 against on-form Cádiz, who stay a point behind them as a result. Both sides came in to the game undefeated for six matches in a row, but it was the visitors who looked like building on their recent wins against Murcia and Celta when Oli headed the opening goal after Raúl López played on a corner. Flavio Barros equalised though ten minutes before the interval after Granon set him up, and although both sides had several chances, nobody could add to the scoreline.

The three teams relegated last season continued with their disappointing form, with all of them involved in 0-0 draws this weekend. Celta could only share the points with Málaga B, their fourth home draw in a row, and they drop in to the bottom half of the table. The Galicians had the better chances but could not find the route to goal, Contreras heading against the bar and Canobbio having a goal from a direct free kick disallowed for a foul by Capucho on the keeper. Canobbio hit the bar again after the break, but Goitia stood fast and the locals ended with ten men after substitute Juan Sánchez was shown a straight red card in the last minute.

Valladolid's score-less game at Almería means they have now gone, seven games without a win, and they find themselves just above the relegation zone thanks to a slightly better goal average than Nàstic. Apart from a couple of efforts from Aduriz in the second half, Sergio Kresic's side were dominated by their opponents, with Roberto Nanni missing a couple of chances either side of half time and missing a penalty a quarter of an hour from the end. Valladolid's Losada was sent off for a second bookable offence in the closing minutes, and Kresic is under pressure to get a result next weekend if he is to stay in a job.

Real Murcia's first win of the season last weekend seems to have been a flash in the pan, their 0-0 result at home to Salamanca putting the pressure back on their manager Manolo Preciado. The visitors had only just climbed out of the relegation zone themselves after two wins in a row, but they were under pressure as Iván Alonso and Julio Alvarez went close two or three times before the break for the locals. Visiting keeper Tom made a vital save from Varela after the restart, but Jaime and Cañas almost won it for Felipe Miñambres's side as they came back in the last quarter of an hour.

Murcia do at least move off the bottom of the table though, that honour falling to Córdoba after they threw away a one goal lead to lose 3-1 at Sporting Gijón. The Andalusians went in front in the fifth minute with a controversial headed goal by Armentano, the referee waving away heated claims for offside and for a foul on keeper Roberto. But the Asturians came back with three goals in the second half, Ismael starting things off after picking up a pass from Dani Borreguero. Juan got a second soon afterwards after Jauregui could only block an effort by Pablo Alvarez, and Ismael finished things off with his second of the night, again after the keeper had kept out two previous shots. (24.10.04)