Deportivo and Eibar drew 1-1 on Sunday lunchtime, a result which kept the Galicians two points ahead of their rivals at the top of the table. A season’s best 26,000 crowd turned up at the Riazor stadium, and although the visitors had the better chances early on, Sissoko set up Ifrán to open the scoring for Fernando V ázquez’s side with just under twenty minutes gone. Up to that point Lux had been the best man on the park, and the local keeper had to save again from Rivas before the break. Seoane and Lopo did go close for the home side after the restart, but with an hour on the clock Jota made it all square, picking up the ball from Dani García’s lofted free kick before beating the Argentinian keeper. Both teams had chances after that, but in the end a point apiece which keeps them on track for promotion to the first division.
There was even better news for the top two later in the evening though, third placed Las Palmas losing 3-2 at Real Madrid Castilla. Manolo Díaz’s side had dropped back in to the relegation spots after eight games without a win, and they found themselves behind with less than a minute on the clock when Pulido headed Valerón’s cross in to his own net. Willian José equalized though twelve minutes later after Barbosa could only push out a shot by Aguza, and a quarter of an hour later the Brazilian striker put José Rodríguez through for a second. Lucas Vázquez made it three with an individualist effort before the break, and although Benja got another one back after Tana and Momo combined to set him up with the twenty minutes to go, the Canary Islanders were not able to do any more. That left a six point gap with Deportivo and four with Eibar, and although Las Palmas still head up the play-off spots (third placed Barcelona B being ineligible for promotion), four teams are now within four points of them. That includes Recreativo, who are back in the running after a 1-0 victory over next to bottom club Girona. Nong got the only goal for the Andalusians with only 40 seconds gone, turning in Montoro’s cross after the defence failed to cut out a long ball by Cifu. And they could have won by a bigger margin in the end, Joselu hitting the post later on.
The Catalans have not given up totally however, and they are claiming the three points on the basis that Nong has played in three teams this season, Mons, Levante and now Recreativo, which is against FIFA rules. Recre themselves though are confident that they are in the right, as the Spanish federation apparently allowed them to field him as only two of those sides are in Spain. Girona stay in 21st spot for now though, albeit that they are only six points below thirteenth placed Numancia, who won 0-1 at Ponferradina to distance themselves from the danger zone. Sergi Enrich got the only goal midway through the second half, following up after Santamaría saved from Bedoya, to take the Soria based side on to 50 points, two above their hosts in the table. Lugo also remain on 50 points after they were beaten 0-1 by Alavés, who themselves are just a point away from safety as a result. Guzmán was the scorer for the visitors, running through from his own half to beat Dani Mallo in the fifth minute, and although Iago Díaz hit the bar later on, the Vitoria based team held on for a vital win. (18.05.14)
Although their first team missed out on the league title earlier in the evening, Barcelona B are still riding high, a 4-0 victory over Murcia taking them back up to third in the table pending Sunday’s fixtures. The visitors themselves started the match a point above their hosts after a 5-0 win over Mirandés last week, but with only a quarter of the game gone they were already three down, young striker Munir starting things off after controlling a long ball out of defence and lifting a shot over Casto. Soon afterwards Dongou connected with a Denis Suárez cross to make it two, and a few minutes later Dongou won his side a penalty which Edu Bedía converted for the third. And with just over an hour gone Adama Traoré cut in from the right of the area to score his side’s fourth, giving them their first victory in three matches. Sporting Gijón move to within a point of Murcia after they drew 1-1 at Mirandés, although they will be disappointed that they let a victory slip away in the dying minutes. Carmona got on the end of a Jony cross to give the Asturians the lead with a quarter of an hour on the clock, but with two minutes to go Iván Malón headed in a Ríos corner to save a point for the locals.
Córdoba are up in to the play-off spots as well after they beat Tenerife 0-1 later in the evening. Chapi Ferrer’s side had won their last three games away from home, and they took the lead on the quarter hour mark when López Silva picked up a Dávila through ball to lob a shot over Roberto. Ayoze Pérez hit the post for the locals soon after the restart, but they couldn’t prevent a fourth consecutive defeat which leaves them out of the top seven. A couple of hours earlier Sabadell had momentarily occupied the last of the play-off places after coming from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Zaragoza. The Maños scored twice in as many minutes midway through the first half, Crisitan García deflecting the rebound in to his own net after Nauzet saved from Roger, and roger himself running on to a Víctor Rodríguez pass to score the second. However Anibal latched on to a Collantes cross to get one back with just over an hour gone, and Crespí made it all square with a header from Cristian’s cross a quarter of an hour later.
Alcorcón are now in the push for promotion as well after they came from behind to beat bottom club Hércules 1-2, an incredible change of fortune considering they were in the relegation spots just seven weeks ago. All the goals came in the last quarter of the match, Portillo heading the locals in to the lead from Eldin’s corner. However Pau Cendrós equalized just two minutes later, and a minute after that Héctor Verdés got on the end of another corner to score the winner. A sixth defeat in a row leaves the Alicante based side five points below 18th placed Mallorca, who are in danger of dropping in to the relegation places themselves after they could only draw 0-0 at home to Jaén. The islanders had gone seven games without a win before this one, and once again they were unable to find the net, Alfaro shooting at keeper René when free on goal before the break, and Agus heading against the crossbar near the end. The Andalusians held on to the end though, and having picked up eight points from their last four matches they are now close to salvation. (17.05.14)