Third placed Levante were held to a 0-0 draw by Alavés in one of four games played on Saturday evening. There was a lively early start in which Magno for the visitors and Congo for the locals both went close, but for the rest of the first half the defences dominated, with visiting manager Pepe Mel playing five at the back. Manolo Preciado brought on Reggi on the hour mark, and the Argentine striker forced a good save out of Juan Pablo. But the Basques bounced back, with substitute Iván Alonso testing Mora and Rivera clearing off the line from Astudillo. Seven minutes from the end Alavés had Téllez sent off for a second bookable offence, followed soon afterwards by the coach himself for the same reason, and Reggi missed a golden chance to secure a fifth home win in a row when he blasted the ball over the bar in injury time.

The Vitoria based side move up level on points with fourth placed Cádiz, who lost 1-0 to neighbours Córdoba. A packed stadium saw both sides match each other in a first half with a lot of action but few scoring opportunities. Jonathan Sesma gave the local fans a fright when he headed just wide soon after the restart, and the visitors looked the most likely to score for much of the second half. But their central defender Abraham Paz was sent off with a straight red card a quarter of an hour from the end, and a few minutes later substitute Montenegro headed the winner to give new manager Miguel Angel Portugal his third win in a row since taking over.

Eibar joined Cádiz and Alavés on nineteen points after coming from behind with two late goals to beat Leganés 1-2. The locals were still looking for their first home win of the season, and they appeared to be on their way when substitute Pablo Rodríguez beat Riesgo with eight minutes to go. But their concentration lapsed allowing Karmona to head an equaliser two minutes from full time, and on-loan Osasuna striker Brit won a penalty in injury time and converted the kick himself to sreal away the three points.

Las Palmas recovered after going two down at home to Algeciras, scoring twice in the second half to draw 2-2. The visitors needed a win to move out of the relegation zone, and raced into a two goal lead in little over a quarter of an hour, Armentano setting up Aitor Santos to head the first and then scoring himself after an assistance from Zafra. Local keeper Cicovic had to go off injured, and Armentano had a goal disallowed for offside after the break. But Pedro Vega pulled one back from the penalty spot after Espejo fouled Frutos, and Changui made it all square after good work from Carmelo. The visitors ended with ten men after Bayarri was sent off late on. (15.11.03)

Numancia powered their way back to the top of the table with a 7-0 win over Ciudad de Murcia on Sunday evening. With Kome away on international duty, Rosu came back into the side, and he took the opportunity to open the scoring in the fifth minute. Labaka put through his own net on the half hour mark and Antonio added another before the break, and Rosu and Pineda added two more in the first seven minutes of the second half. Lillo made three substitutions for the visitors, but Culebras headed a sixth and Sestelo beat Tete for a seventh time near to the end to complete the rout and take a fitting revenge on the team who knocked them out of the cup earlier in the season. The Soria based side have yet to let in a goal at home, and are already looking good for a return to the top flight.

Last week's leaders Almería were held to a 0-0 draw by a team twenty-one places below them in the table, bottom side Terrassa. It was a game where the defences were on top, with the only chances in the first half a shot on the turn by Francisco for the visitors and a penalty appeal for a foul on Juan Carlos from the locals which the referee turned down. Cristian tested the Andalucian's keeper Cano after the break, but the visitors could have snatched it later on, Ortíz hitting a post and Héctor clearing off the line from Francisco. Almería ended the weekend in second place.

Elche moved up to within two points of the top three, level with Cádiz, Alavés and Eibar, with a 2-0 victory over Tenerife in the last match of the evening. The two teams sounded each other out in the first half, with Moisés shooting just over for the locals in the twelfth minute and Martín Posse trying his luck with an overhead kick at the other end later on. The Canary Islanders pushed forward after the interval, but left gaps at the back allowing Arnal to chip the keeper and open the scoring soon after the restart. And late substitute David Cuéllar scored a second goal four minutes into injury time to calm the nerves of the local supporters. .

Rayo Vallecano's new manager Jorge D'Alessandro had an immediate effect, and his side's 2-1 victory over Sporting Gijon takes them out of the relegation zone. D'Alessandro was the men finally chosen after a long selection process to replace Julen Lopetegui, and he immediately changed to a more attacking 4-4-2 line up, bringing in Biagini for his first start. And with only 15 seconds on the clock the ex Mallorca forward got his name on the scorecard, running on to Pablo Sanz's long ball to beat Roberto. Sporting were left with ten men on the half hour mark after Cristian Díaz was sent off for a foul on Bolo, but even so Miguel levelled the scores a quarter of an hour into the second half. But Peragón connected with Mario's cross fifteen minutes from the end to score the winner, and the referee added to the Asturians' problems sending off Sastre and manager Marcelino for second bookable offences before the end.

Málaga B also climb out of the bottom four with their second victory in a row, 1-2 over local rivals Poli Ejido. The home side controlled the game early on, and Sabino put them in front with half an hour on the board after Lara failed to hold on to Calado's free kick. But before the half time whistle Juanma got on the end of an Alexis cross to head the equaliser past Manu. Poli could have gone back in front two or three times but failed to convert their chances, and with ten minutes to go Urbano turned Geijo's cross past his own keeper to give the visitors the victory. The Almería based side dropped to nineteenth by the end of the day, and later in the week manager Quique Setién became the sixth coach to be fired in the second division this season.

Managerless Xerez also ended the weekend in the drop zone after losing 1-2 at home to Getafe. The club's future coach "Boquerón" Esteban, whose appointment was confirmed a day or two ago, watched from the stands as the visitors overran the Andalucians in the first half. They were only able to score once though when Alberto converted a Bernaus cross, and an improved Xerez made it all square midway through the second half after Calle headed home a corner. Two minutes from the end though, Miguel Angel finished off a good run by Castro to secure the three points and hand a fourth defeat in a row to the locals.

Recreativo Huelva are another club who are looking for a new manager after they fired Paco Herrera last week, but in the meantime caretaker boss Pepe Rivera steered them to a 1-1 draw at Salamanca. The South coast side started well, with local keeper Stelea having to be at his best to save from Uche and Toedtli early on, and Iker Begoña put them in front before the break after cutting in from the left. But the locals fought back in the second half, and after Luque stopped efforts from Zé Tó, Lupido and David Cano, Raúl Sánchez finally made it all square with a headed goal. (16.11.03)