Second Division - Day 27
Tenerife stay in second spot after a 2-2 draw at next to bottom club Alicante on Saturday evening, although they will regret not taking the three points after Alfaro opened the scoring and then set up and Nino to give them a two goal lead at the break. Luis García was in goal for the Canary Islanders after Aragoneses was taken to hospital with a recurrence of a previous serious illness, but he could do nothing as Rafa Jordà and then Borja scored after the break to save a point for the locals. The East coast side are still however eleven points away from safety.
Tenerife's closest contenders failed to win as well though, with Rayo Vallecano fighting back to 1-1 draw against Girona. Igor de Souza put the visitors ahead after winning a ball off Salva before beating Cobeño shortly before the break, but Pachón equalised near the end after good work by Collantes. The game was overshadowed though by the arrest of Rayo full back Carlos de la Vega for drug trafficking offences a few days ago.
Meanwhile Castellón lost 2-1 at Córdoba despite taking a first half lead. Mario Rosas took advantage of a defensive mistake to open the scoring five minutes before the interval. But Pieri equalised after Natalio's header came back off the bar, and with the game coming to an end Yordi got the winner from the penalty spot after Dealbert was sent off for bringing down the striker in the area.
Córdoba's win means they move out of the drop zone, and they will be replaced in the bottom four by Alavés who lost 2-1 at fellow relegation rivals Las Palmas later in the evening. Marcos Márquez got the first for the Canary Islanders early on after keeper Bernardo dropped the ball in his path, and although Moreno levelled the scores a few minutes later, the visitors were left with ten men before half time when Juanjo picked up a second booking. And Márquez took advantage to net his second of the evening after picking up a Pablo Sánchez pass on the hour mark.
Eibar sank further down in the relegation spots after a 2-0 defeat at Albacete. Toché connected with Peña's pass to start things off in the twentieth minute, and visiting keeper Zigor was forced to make a string of saves before Merino got the second with an angled shot which went in off Alaña on the hour mark.
Celta are still in the danger zone as well after the Galicians lost 0-1 at home to Huesca. Eusebio Sacristán was in charge for the first time after Pepe Murcia was fired midweek, but although he made several changes to the formation they were unable to prevent a third home defeat in a row. On-loan Osasuna midfielder Jokin Esparza got the only goal followig a rebound midway through the second half. (07.03.09)
Local rivals Elche and Murcia cancelled each other out in a 1-1 draw on Sunday lunchtime which leaves both in the lower half of the table. Despotovic headed the visitors in to the lead from Capdevila's corner on the quarter hour mark, but Miguel equalised on the stroke of half time after Saúl set him up.
The fight for promotion from the second division is tighter than ever after the top six all failed to win. Leaders Xerez stay three points clear at the top though after coming back from two down to draw 2-2 at Levante on Sunday evening. Rubén opened the scoring for the locals from a direct free kick with half an hour on the clock, and Miguel Pérez made it two on the stroke of half time following a rapid counter attack. But Mario Bermejo scored twice for the Andalusians in the second half to save a valuable point.
Hércules remain in third spot after they too drew 2-2 against direct rivals Zaragoza. Ewerthon gave the locals the lead in only the third minute after a failed clearance bounced back to him, but two in a minute midway through the second half from Sales and Delibasic turned the scoreline around. Zapater levelled the scores once again though with a direct free kick a quarter of an hour from the end.
Salamanca took advantage to rejoin the promotion race with a 4-0 victory over Gimnàstic. The locals were one up at the break after Cohen turned in Miku's pass, but Cherfa was sent off for a second bookable offence ten minutes in to the second half, and two minutes later Isaac deflected Cohen's shot past Felip for the second. Miku added two more after that, the second from the penalty spot.
Real Sociedad also improved their position with a 1-0 win over bottom club Sevilla Atlético, although they made hard work of it before Aranburu scored with an angled shot late on. The Basque side missed several chances before that, but in the end they were able to end a run of three defeats in a row to move to within seven points of the top three. (08.03.09)
