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Second Division - Day 6

Salamanca opened the weekend's matches with a 0-1 victory over Villarreal B on Friday night which took them momentarily to second in the table. Sarmiento hit the post for the visitors before the break, but they appeared to be up against it when Miguel García was sent off after picking up two bookings in an eight minute period in the second half. However with four minutes to go Mario brought down Kiko in the area, and Marcos Márquez stepped up to convert the resulting penalty. Villarreal B will be hoping that they won't have to play on Friday night again after a third defeat kicking off at that time! (01.10.10)

Betis are back on top of the pack after beating Ponferradina 3-0 in the first match on Saturday. Emaná latched on to Momo's pass to beat Queco Pina with a shot on the turn midway through the first half, and Brazilian central defender Roversio (making his first start since joining from Osasuna) made it two a few minutes before the break. Víctor Salas brought a good save out of Goitia as the visitors fought back after the restart, but with the game in injury time Rubén Castro got the third after Pino could only push out a shot from young substitute Ezequiel.

Celta are looking good for a return to the top flight this season, and they are now third after a 1-2 victory over Huesca later in the evening. The locals dominated the first half, but a quarter of an hour after the restart David Rodríguez led a counter-attack which ended with De Lucas opening the scoring. Camacho equalised from the penalty spot a few minutes later after Trashorras picked up a second booking for a foul on Oscar Vega (even though the referee originally ruled that Vega had dived before his linesman stepped in to correct him). But with four minutes to go David Rodríguez got the winner on another quick breakaway to give the Galicians their best start since they were relegated four seasons ago.

Xerez have recovered well after a bad start to the season, and they beat Gimnàstic 0-2 to clock up their fourth win in a row. José Marí got the first against his old side with only seven minutes gone after keeper Rubén Pérez could only push out a shot from Capi, but midway through the first half the Andalusians were left with ten men after Moreno was sent off for bringing down Berry Powel. The Catalans tried to take advantage, but Lledó made a string of excellent saves, and Gerardo had a goal disallowed for a borderline offside with twenty minutes to go. And a minute later Cordero made it two after a shot from Oscar Díaz came back off the post to hand the locals their fourth defeat in a row.

Xerez move up in to the play-off spots, just behind Las Palmas who picked up another point in a 1-1 draw at Recreativo. The home side had only drawn two games before this after a poor start to the season, and they were over-run early on, with Alvaro Cejudo opening the scoring after Fabricio could only parry a shot from Jonathan Viera. However with just under an hour on the clock Samuel gave away a penalty on Lamas which Jesús Vázquez converted to level the scores. The Canary Islanders could still have won it though when David García hit the post with a couple of minutes to go. (02.10.10)

Rayo Vallecano dropped their first points of the season after they were beaten 2-0 by neighbours Alcorcón on Sunday lunchtime, and they slip down the table to third. After a goal-less first half, the locals took the lead when Rubén Sanz latched on to a rebound to beat Cobeño from outside of the area. Two minutes later though Alcorcón were left with ten men when Angel Sánchez was sent off for a second bookable offence, but they held off Rayo's attacks and scored a second themselves after Jeremy set up Nagore on a quick counter-attack with seven minutes to go. That settled it, and the visitors were also left with ten men when Arribas was shown a second yellow card with a couple of minutes left on the clock.

Barcelona Athletic were the only side after that who could have caught Rayo, but they drop down to seventh after a 2-0 defeat at Córdoba. The Andalusians had not won at home all season, but they took the lead ten minutes before the break when Tena headed in a long Javi Flores free kick. A few minutes later Luis Enrique's side were left with ten men when Marc Muniesa picked up a second booking, and Charles slid in the second from a Fuentes cross soon after the restart.

Barça B's regional neighbours Girona also lost 2-1 in Andalusia against Granada. Mikel Rico beat Miño with a first time shot from left of the area to open the scoring with only two minutes on the clock, and Dani Benítez cut in from the wing to shoot past the keeper from an even wider angle on the half hour mark. Collantes also hit the bar as the locals dominated the first half, although Jandro lobbed a shot over keeper Roberto to get one back for the Catalans shortly before the interval.

Córdoba and Granada both move on to seven points, and Numancia are now a point behind them after a 2-0 victory over Elche. Ibrahima had a goal disallowed for a borderline offside before the on-loan Atlético striker was brought down in the area by Carpio with ten minutes to go to half time. The full back was shown a red card and Barkero converted the resulting penalty, but after that they struggled, and numbers were evened up when Nano picked up a second booking midway through the second half. Ibrahima wrapped things up though on a quick breakaway with three minutes to go.

Tenerife picked up their first point of the campaign after drawing 1-1 with Cartagena, although they still stay firmly rooted to the bottom of the table. Juan Carlos Mandía was in charge for the Canary Islanders after Gonzalo Arconada was fired, but the new coach didn't even make it to half time after an overzealous Ceballos Silva sent him off for protesting. Visiting defender Mariano Sánchez was sent off at the same time for a second bookable offence, but even so Cartagena took the lead with a Toché penalty after Toni Moral was fouled by Melli on the hour mark. Nino equalised from Juanlu's cross though five minutes later, and the referee ended with a record tally of 13 yellows and four reds after sending off Bellvis and Herrero later on. (03.10.10)

Valladolid's promising start to the season is starting to fade, and they ended the weekend down in eighth spot after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Albacete in the Monday night game. The locals wasted a couple of good chances and also had two strikes disallowed for questionable offsides before the break, but the visitors went ahead with a Verza penalty after César Arzo handled the ball in the area a quarter of an hour in to the second half. Jorge Alonso made it all square a few minutes later with an impressive shot from outside of the area, but the Manchegans shut up shop after that and held on for a valuable point. (04.10.10)