Racing Santander 1 - Numancia 1

Racing: Lemmens; Tais (Txema 60'), Mellberg, Arzeno, Sietes; Espina (Bestchastnykh 83'), Colsa; Manjarín, Vivar Dorado, Munitis; Salva (Rushfeldt 70'). 4-2-3-1.
Numancia: Nuñez; Soria, Muñiz, Iván Rocha, Octavio; Iñaki, Nagore, Pacheta, Castaño; Barbu, Rubén Navarro. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Racing: No change / Numancia: Soria, Castaño, Barbu, Rubén Navarro for Jaume, Caco Morán, Chispa Delgado, Ojeda.

Goals:
1-0. 07. Salva. Long pass from Colsa to Munitis, who rounded keeper and crossed.
1-1. 56. Rubén Navarro. Close header after Pacheta headed back Iñaki's free kick.

The Sardinero stadium was full to bursting to see the team that beat Real Madrid last week. Fans formed long queues in front of the ticket office as the passion returned to the game in Santander, with the crowd including 40 Belgians from Beveren who had come to see Lemmens and another 500 from the visitors' town of Soria (some of whom were locked out). It was wishful thinking by the home supporters though, as Racing have the worst home record in the first division, and for the umpteenth time they let a lead slip through their fingers. Manager Gustavo Benítez named an unchanged team, with Mellberg one of only two outfield players (the other is Cristóbal of Espanyol) who have played every match this season. Numancia manager Antoni Goikoetxea had a full squad to count on for the first time in many weeks, and Rubén Navarro came back to the starting line up for his first full game in five months (discounting a brief appearance in March when he had a relapse), with Barbu being preferred to Ojeda alongside Rubén up front and Castaño returning from suspension. Racing were clearly inspired by all those people in the stadium, and Manjarín brought the best out of Nuñez before Salva finished off a good move by Munitis in the seventh minute. This was the young striker's 26th of the season, and his return to form has come at the right time to save his team, and to catch Camacho's eye once again for Euro 2000 after failing to take advantage of the two brief opportunities he was given in the national side earlier in the season. After that Vivar Dorado went close, Salva had a strong claim for a penalty turned down by referee Megía Dávila and Munitis protested that his shot had crossed the line before being cleared by Iñaki as Racing kept up their attack. However the whirlwind died down and Numancia started to make inroads, with Castaño shooting wide and Lemmens saving from Barbu before half time. Goiko added a forward, Ojeda, at half time, and his bravery paid off ten minutes later after the Iñaki free kick / Pacheta header combination linked up once again to set up Navarro for his ninth of the season. Benítez wanted the three points, and after Rushfeldt replaced Salva, Besteatenbeforefriday came on for the last seven minutes. The big Russian striker woke Racing from their lethargy, and in the short time he was on he hit the bar and brought the best save of the match out of Nuñez. Numancia wasted time at the end replacing Rubén with Rivera, and condemned Racing to their twelfth home draw this season. After the match both managers were happy with their point however, with Racing now on 43 and Numancia on 41, and with Betis down on 36 they could both reach safety next weekend. Racing can then start to make plans to try and hold on to their star players, with Salva, Munitis and Mellberg all under attack from big clubs. Numancia will have achieved their only goal this season, to stay up in their first ever season in the first division. Hopefully nothing happens in the next three days to change that. They deserve their success this season, and they have one of the most loyal (and peaceful) set of fans in the country.

Remaining matches: Racing: Bilbao (A), Deportivo (H), Málaga (A)
Numancia: Espanyol (H), Alavés (A), Betis (H)

Sevilla 2 - Oviedo 3

Sevilla: Olsen (Jesús 46'); Héctor, Marchena, Quevedo, Nando; Olivera, Loren, Francisco, Juric (Víctor 80'); Juan Carlos (Germán 72'), Otero. 4-4-2.
Oviedo: Esteban; Losada (Fabio Pinto 82'), Keita, Boris, Onopko, Rabarivony (Corbo 65'); Paulo Bento, Nadj, Pompei; Rubén (Danjou 40'), Dely Valdés. 5-3-2.

Team changes: Sevilla: Quevedo, Olivera, Francisco, Loren, Otero for Hibic, Jesuli, Víctor, Angel, Tsartas / Oviedo: No change.

Goals:
0-1. 26. Paulo Bento. Triangular move between Dely Valdés, Pompei and player.
0-2. 60. Pompei. Picked up loose ball and lobbed keeper from edge of area.
0-3. 72. Losada. Header from close range after good cross from right.
1-3. 75. Loren. Following up after Otero{s shot saved by keeper.
2-3. 77. Olivera. Lobbed ball up falling backwards and went over keeper into net.

A shameful display by the Sevilla players left Oviedo closer to safety, but more importantly for the home supporters, local rivals Betis nearer to relegation. It all started three years ago when Betis lost at home under suspicious circumstances against Sporting Gijon, allowing the Asturian side to escape relegation to the detriment of Sevilla. During that match, the 30,000 Betis crowd kept up their chant in favour of Sporting, and celebrated after the match as their neighbours went down. It has taken Sevilla three seasons to get back, but their fans didn't forget when the opportunity arose. A banner at the match said it all, 'Bye-bye Betis. Revenge is best served cold'. Oviedo had never sold so many scarves in their lives, and they came out on the pitch as if they were playing at home (thankfully for them, as they had not won away in over a year). Some Sevilla players even said that they had received threats from fans that they had to lose, and three of their international players, Tsartas, Hibic and Tabaré, failed to return from their midweek engagements, claiming that they had picked up injuries whilst away. Under those circumstances caretaker manager Juan Carlos Alvarez was forced to make five changes, with youngsters Jesús (B team reserve keeper) and Germán drafted in to cover the substitutes positions. Oviedo manager Luis Aragonés (who surely marked his pools coupon with an away win) named an unchanged side for the second week in a row. Right from the start Sevilla were reluctant to keep possession, with Oviedo being cheered on every time that they touched the ball. Only Norwegian keeper Olsen kept the Oviedo forwards out, the player surely thinking that this sort of thing wouldn't happen in Hammerfest. In the first 25 Oviedo had twelve shots at goal, hitting the crossbar once and missing the mark on a number of times before Paulo Bento finally put them out of their misery after Dely Valdés was allowed to walk the ball to him via Pompei. In all that time Sevilla only had one shot, and that wildly off target from Loren. After the break Olsen didn't reappear, the official line being that he had suddenly had an attack of 'fever', and fourth choice keeper Jesús made his first team debut. Nando also asked to be substituted claiming injury after he had been insulted by one of his own fans for playing too well (Alvarez kept him on). Pompei added an easy second six minutes after the break, lobbing Jesús, and Losada headed a third eighteen minutes from the end. Sevilla suddenly started playing, and with Oviedo really not very good, they scored twice in three minutes. Handbrake on, and from that moment on Sevilla limited themselves to passing the ball about between themselves. It is true that the players were scared of the anger of their fans (a TV reporter trying to get comments from the most radical fans during the match was attacked and ended up in hospital), but that is no excuse for their behaviour. Other people are affected as well as Betis, and although we have criticized the comportment of Atlético Madrid president Jesus Gil on these pages, he was well within his rights to complain strongly about the way the match turned out, with his club too almost certainly relegated with this result. In any case Spanish football federation observers were at the match having been warned that this could happen, and we await their report. In actual fact the loss mathematically condemns Sevilla to the second division, but in reality that happened a couple of weeks ago. Oviedo climb up to 41 points, above Numancia now on particular goal average and five points clear of Betis. True, Betis didn't help their cause losing 4-0 to Mallorca after this fiasco was over, but knowing how things were going they probably didn't try too hard. Strangely, the situation could be repeated in a few days time in the second division B, with Sevilla B already down and Betis B close to relegation. I suppose looking on the bright side, we are going to have one hell of a second division next year. I wouldn't like to be at the next Sevilla derby though.

Remaining matches: Sevilla: Mallorca (H), Atlético (A), Rayo (H)
Oviedo: Atlético (H), Rayo (A), Real Sociedad (H)