Second division, day 23

A depleted Alavés side lost the lead at the top of the table after a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Recreativo on Sunday lunchtime. Both goals came in the second half, Sarriegi putting through his own net and Azkorra finishing things off in the last minute. The result puts Recre back into the promotion race, which is wide open with the top eight only separated by six points. Cádiz took advantage to return to top spot after coming from behind to beat Lleida 1-3, their goals coming from Oli, Pavoni and Sesma. And Eibar returned to the promotion zone after just 24 hours out of it, a 0-0 draw against José Marí Bakero's Málaga B enough to take them back above Celta.

There was a similar result at Ciudad Murcia, where Elche came away with a point which keeps them two points behind the Basque side. Valladolid moved back up level with Yosu Uribe's side though after a 0-2 win at Tenerife, the goals coming from Sousa and Víctor in each half. And there was an extraordinary result in Almería, where Racing Ferrol ran out 1-6 winners after the locals had two men sent off in the first half. Second division Pichichi Mario Bermejo helped himself to four, including an early penalty.

Sporting Gijón beat struggling Real Murcia 2-0 with first half strikes from Pablo Lago and Ismael to move up safely to mid-table, and Terrassa also pulled away from the danger zone after beating Poli Ejido, also by 2-0. The Catalans' new signing Cazerine got the first goal. Meanwhile the bottom two Pontevedra and Córdoba are looking even more like relegation candidates after their 1-1 draw left both well adrift of the rest. (06.02.05)

Celta moved up into the promotion spots pending Sunday's games with a 0-2 win over Nàstic on Saturday evening. Played in a hailstorm, there were no goals until the second half when Cannobio and Jandro beat Valencia twice for the final result. Xerez are only three points behind the Galicians though after beating Salamanca 1-0, Mena giving them their third victory in a row with a strike late in the first half. (05.02.05)