All change in the second division, where leaders Xerez were beaten for the first time this season by Alavés, who move up into the promotion spots after their third win in a row. The visitors showed why they are riding so high with a dominant display in the first half, although the best chance fell to Rubén Navarro who's shot was turned for a corner by Julio Iglesias. Xerez defender Bajic was sent off though early in the second half after picking up two yellow cards in three minutes, and the locals were awarded a penalty soon afterwards after Thiaw was fouled by Pendín. But Iglesias guessed right and saved De Lucas's spot kick, and numbers were evened up two minutes later when Thiaw, apparently upset about not being able to take the penalty himself, got sent off for a reckless tackle on an opponent. Alavés eventually won through though with two late goals, De Lucas taking a pass from Navarro to finally beat the keeper, and Nené wrapping things up in injury time after Carpintero set him up.

Eibar took advantage to move to the top of the table with a 1-0 victory over Terrassa, the Basque sides sixth home win in a row. The first shot at goal came from visiting striker Maikel, but soon afterwards Llorente headed the home side into the lead, taking him to the top of the second division Pichichi chart with eight goals. Juanma Lillo threw on all his strike force after the break, but Silva and Cabrejo could have put the locals further ahead if they had taken their chances. It was another bad result though for the Catalans, who find themselves only a point above the drop zone having suffered five defeats and only managed one draw in their last six games.

Racing Ferrol beat struggling Salamanca 2-1 to make it nine wins without defeat and move up to fourth spot in the table pending Sunday's results. All the goals came after the restart, Jaio heading the Galicians in front following a free kick and Bermejo making it two from the penalty spot eight minutes from the end. Robert did get a consolation for the visitors two minutes later, but they ended the day level with Terrassa, just a place above the bottom four.

Cádiz are only two points behind Racing after a convincing 4-0 win over Málaga B, setting them up for their midweek cup tie against Betis. The Andalusians scored all four goals in fifteen minute period either side of half time, De la Cuesta starting things off when he nipped between the defence to deflect a Manolo Pérez free kick past Javi Muñoz with his heel. With five minutes of the restart Oli and Dani Navarrete added two more with shots from outside of the area, and Varela completed the rout with what was intended as a cross from near the corner flag which swung straight in to the net.

Gimnastic Tarragona moved out of the relegation spots after a 1-0 win over Tenerife, Ibon Begoña getting the only goal on the half hour mark after the defence failed to clear Iván Anía's cross. Limones had two attempts cleared by the defence before the interval, and Raúl Martín could have equalised as the Canary Islanders piled on the pressure in the second half. But when Edu Moya was sent off for a second bookable offence two minutes from the final whistle their challenge ended, and they finished the weekend in the bottom half of the table having only taken three points from their last five matches.

Celta are starting to claw their way back up the table after a bad start, and a last minute goal by Juan Sánchez gave them a 1-0 win over last week's third placed side Poli Ejido on Sunday lunchtime. The visitors almost took the lead in the first half when Corona hit the post, but Vyzas had a goal disallowed for a dubious offside and then had another effort blocked by Carlos García before the break. The visitors were left with ten men when Sierra picked up a second yellow card on the hour mark, but even so it looked like they would save a point until Sánchez's late strike. The defeat leaves the Almería based side out of the top three.

Later in the day Lleida moved to within a point of the promotion spots with a 3-0 victory over Pontevedra, Nakor getting a second half hat-trick to win the match. The Catalans seemed to be in trouble when Borrell was sent off on the stroke of half time for a second bookable offence, but only two minutes after the restart Nakor got on the end of half time subsitute Crusat's pass to open the scoring. And the striker took advantage of assists from Sergio and Santos to add two more within the next twenty minutes to leave their opponents down in the bottom four, having only picking up a point in their last five matches.

Elche missed out on a chance to keep up with the leaders though after they threw away a one goal lead to lose 2-1 at Recreativo Huelva. Yosu Uribe's side took the lead through Trotta four minutes into the second half following a corner, but Calle equalised from the penalty spot soon afterwards and Viqueira struck the winner with a shot from outside of the area later on to give the Andalusians their third win in eight days.

Once again it was a low scoring weekend, especially for away sides who only managed three goals between them. One side who did score on their travels though was Valladolid, Figueredo's injury time strike saving a point in a 1-1 draw at Sporting Gijón. The Asturians had taken the lead from the penalty spot on the hour mark after Ismael had been brought down in the area, the striker converting the kick himself, and they seemed to be on their way to victory before got on the end of an Aduriz free kick to equalise with a glancing header.

Another of last year's relegated sides Real Murcia are slowly starting to pick up points, and they beat bottom side Córdoba 1-0 to make it four games now without defeat. Manolo Preciado's side could have taken the lead in the first half when Julio Alvarez hit the bar, but Juanmi had to make vital saves from Bilic and Sierra before José María volleyed the winner. It was Murcia's first home win since they beat Real Madrid in better times, way back in the middle of May.

Murcia's city neighbours Ciudad are now level with them on points after they drew 0-0 at Almería. Miguel Alvarez's side could have taken the lead in the first half had Valerio not made key saves from Falcón and Raúl Pérez. The best chance of the match though fell to the locals after the break when they were awarded a penalty for a foul by Pedro on Nanni. But Javi Fernández saved Cervián's kick, and they had to hold on in the end after Isaac was sent off for a second booking a quarter of an hour from the finish. (07.11.04)