If you are not a member yet, you can sign up here

Second Division - Day 13

Lugo and Murcia have been the two revelation sides this year, and they met on Saturday afternoon with second place at stake. The Galicians had displaced their opponents recently for the second of the direct promotion spots, but only a couple of good saves by José Juan prevented Tete and Kike García from putting the visitors in front before the break. With just under an hour on the clock Saúl gave Julio Velázquez's side the lead after good work by Kike García, but with ten minutes to go Pita headed in a Pablo Sánchez corner to save a point for the locals.

Lugo stay second, and Numancia move above Murcia to third pending Sunday's games after coming from behind to beat Zaragoza 1-2. Local keeper Leo Franco had to be on his toes to keep the scoreline level before the break, but eight minutes in to the second half Henríquez took advantage of a poor clearance to give the Maños the lead. With ten minutes to go however Julio Alvarez made it all square from the spot after Abraham gave away a penalty, and just three minutes later ex Zaragoza defender Gaffoor headed the winner following a corner. Bonilla came close to a third near the end, a frustrated Romareda crowd called for the head of coach Paco Herrera after the final whistle.

With teams so close together though, last week's fourth placed side Las Palmas drop right out of the play-off spots after a 2-1 defeat at struggling Hércules. Chrisantus gave the Canary Islanders an early lead somewhat against the run of play, the Nigerian striker lobbing Aulestia after Valerón passed over the top of the defence. However a few minutes later Eldin deflected Peña's shot past Barbosa to equalize, the referee waving away claims for offside, and two minutes in to the second half Eldin set up Sissoko to beat the visiting keeper with an angled shot. It was a first win in ten games for the Alicante based side, and they move to within two points of safety.

Córdoba move above Las Palmas on goal difference after they drew 0-0 at Alcorcón. Both teams hit the woodwork twice, Dávila and local defender Iribas at first for the visitors, and later on Cristian Alfonso and Jesús for the locals. The Andalusians ended with ten men after Pedro picked up a second booking midway through the second half, but Miguel Alvarez's side were unable to take advantage, and they ended the day just a couple of points above the drop zone after a sixth game in a row without scoring a goal.

Barcelona B are also having problems finding the net, and for the fourth home game in a row they failed to score after losing 0-3 to Jaén. Jona put Fran Machado away to open the scoring for the visitors in the eleventh minute, and Jona himself made it two before the break after running on to a through ball from Jozabed to beat Masip. Denis Suárez tested René with a well struck free kick after the restart, but with five minutes to go substitute Adama Traoré got himself sent off for bringing down Víctor Curto in the area, and Curto himself converted the spot kick. The result takes the Andalusians four points clear of their hosts, who remain down in the relegation spots for another week. (09.11.13)


Deportivo have adapted well to life in the second division, and they move up to second spot after beating leaders Recreativo 0-1 on Sunday lunchtime. The locals were missing key players Alvaro Antón, Arana and Jonathan Valle, and although they had the better of the first half, they were unable to get past a well ordered defence, Lux saving well from Montoro and Linares when they did get through. Luisinho and Luis Fernández tested Cabrero at the other end before the break though, and Marchena had a header cleared off the line in the second half (although the play was eventually ruled out for offside). With twelve minutes to go however Pablo Insúa headed in a Culio corner on the far post, and after that the Galicians held on for an eighth clean sheet of the season. It was a second defeat in a row for Sergi Barjuán's side, and their opponents are now just three points behind them in the table.


Later in the evening Sporting Gijón came back from a goal down to beat Sabadell 3-1, a result which takes the Asturians back up to fourth place. Sandoval's side had not won in five games, and after a fairly eventless first half, they went behind soon after the break when Llorente got in front of Cuéllar to head in Antonio Hidalgo's cross. A quarter of an hour later though Scepovic levelled the scores from the penalty spot after Carlos Hernández handled in the area, and in the last ten minutes substitute Lekic fired an impressive shot in off the crossbar, and then set up Alex Barrera to beat Nauzet for a third time with an angled shot from the right of the area.

Sporting head up a group of nine teams separated by just two points, Girona moving back to within a point of the top six after a 1-2 victory at Mirandés. The Catalans went two up at the break, Eloi opening the scoring with a well struck free kick and Felipe Sánchon getting the second with a shot from the edge of the area. Caneda headed one back from Pablo Infante's wide free kick some twenty minutes in to the second half, but the visitors held on to move a point above their hosts in the table. Ponferradina are level with Girona after they drew 2-2 at Mallorca. Víctor Casadesús and Nsue combined to set up Alfaro for the opener in the fifth minute, and although Fofo took advantage of some slack defending to equalize, Víctor restored the lead for the islanders on the half hour mark. However with eight minutes to go Thomas handled in the area, and Yuri converted the resulting spot kick to keep his side a point ahead of José Luis Oltra's team in the rankings.

Eibar are also together with Ponferradina and Girona on nineteen points after they lost 2-0 at Tenerife. The Basque side had moved to the verge of the play-off spots after three wins in a row, but they went behind when Iñigo Ros got on the end of a cross by young striker Ayoze to beat Irureta. Ayoze himself got the second with an angled shot on the hour mark, and the match ended with a clash between the players in which Suso was shown the red card. The win takes Tenerife out of the relegation zone above Alavés, who drop in to the bottom four after a 1-0 defeat at red lantern club Real Madrid Castilla. The youngsters had only won one game all season, but they took the lead with just over half an hour gone when Omar Mascarell lobbed in a soft penalty after Alex Ortíz handled in the area. The Vitoria based team caused few problems for the locals throughout most of the match, although Pacheco did have a couple of saves to make near the end, in particular from Guzmán. (10.11.13)