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Second Division - Day 8

Elche continue to re-write the record books in the second division, and they moved on to a best ever 22 points from eight games after beating Mirandés 1-2 on Saturday evening. Coro set up Xumetra to open the scoring in the thirteenth minute, and Pelayo made it two soon after the restart. And although Alain got the newly promoted side's first home goal at this level with a couple of minutes to go, it was not enough to prevent another defeat which leaves them further down in the drop zone. With second placed Villarreal playing tomorrow, Almería took advantage to draw level with them after a 1-2 win at Las Palmas later in the evening. The Canary Islanders have still not won at home this season, and although they managed several shots at Esteban in the first half, the visitors went ahead when Ulloa set up Verza to score on the hour mark. With six minutes to go local keeper Barbosa was sent off for bringing down Jonathan, and with all three changes made, substitute Tyronne had to go in goal. He couldn't stop Charles's spot kick however, and although Thievy got one back near the end, it came too late to prevent the defeat.

Villarreal and Almería have opened up a three point gap on the rest, but only one point separates the next seven teams after today's results. Girona stay fourth though, despite being held to a 0-0 draw by ten man Huesca. The Catalans had a great chance to go ahead when Luis Helguera was sent off for bringing down Benja inside the penalty area with just over a quarter of an hour gone, but Jandro fired the resulting spot kick against the post. And after that they were unable to make much inroad in to a well ordered defence, and Rivas and David López could even have given the Aragón based side a first home win with a bit more luck. Murcia are up to fifth, level on points with Girona, after they beat Racing Santander 1-0. The Cantabrians had clearly turned up looking for a point, and they sat back to defend right from the start. Early in the second half however Molinero finally broke through the wall with an impressive volley from outside of the area, and the visitors were forced to come out after that. But even when Nafti was sent off with ten minutes to go they were unable to get past Javi Jiménez, and when Oscar Pérez was also sent off late on their challenge ended.

Sabadell drop to sixth however after they were beaten 3-1 by Ponferradina, the defeat ending their run of four wins in a row. Mayor won a penalty for the locals with ten minutes to go to the break, and although Yuri's spot kick came off the post and the keeper, the striker knocked in the rebound to open the scoring. Anibal got on the end of a Collantes cross to make it all square soon after the restart, but Espandasín put through his own net trying to clear an effort from Yuri a few minutes later. Two minutes after that Sabadell were left with ten men when Moha picked up a second booking, and Mayor rounded things off with a shot from outside of the area near the end. It was not a good day for the Catalan sides though, and Barcelona B are down to seventh after losing 2-1 at Córdoba. The Andalusians went two up at the break, Joselu getting on the end of a Cristian García cross for the first, and López Garai and Caballero combining to set up Dubarbier for the second. Rafinha got one back for the youngsters a quarter of an hour in to the second half following a corner, but Pedro came close to extending the lead when he hit the post late on.

Numancia are up to eighth after they won 3-0 against Lugo, a result which keeps up their unbeaten home record. Natalio started things off with a low shot shortly before the interval, and Nagore got the second from the penalty spot after Pavón fouled Juanma in the area on the hour mark. The visitors were left with ten men soon afterwards when Pablo Alvarez was shown a second yellow card, and Nieto completed the scoring with three minutes to go. Recreativo and Alcorcón are also on thirteen points after the Andalusians beat the Madrid based side 4-2. Chuli put the locals ahead early on, and although Juli leveled the scores following a quickly taken free kick, Chuli scored two more in the first five minutes of the second half to complete his hat-trick. Oriol Riera got another one back before getting himself sent off, but Dimas wrapped up the scoring to give his team a fourth home win in a row. Further down the table bottom club Guadalajara were held to a 1-1 draw by Xerez, a result which left Esteban Vigo's side just two points above the drop zone pending the rest of the weekend's games. The goals came in the last quarter of an hour, Maldonado putting the visitors ahead after good work by José Vega, but Alvaro Antón equalizing from the penalty spot after the striker was brought down by Raúl Cámara inside the area. (06.10.12)

Second placed Villarreal were beaten 2-0 by Sporting Gijón on Sunday lunchtime, and after Almería won their game on Saturday, Julio Velázquez's side drop out of the automatic promotion spots to third. Both teams were relegated from the first division this summer, but whereas Villarreal have been unbeaten up until now, the Asturians started the weekend down in the relegation spots. The match swung in favour of the locals however when Bruno was sent off for an aggression on Carmona with ten minutes to go to the break, and five minutes later David Rodríguez opened the scoring after Trejo won the ball back in midfield. The ten men started to fight back after the restart, but Juan Carlos had to be at his best to keep out Mendy, and with two minutes to go Sangoy squeezed a shot past the visiting keeper from wide on the left to take his team above Las Palmas and out of the bottom four. (07.10.12)

This week the second division programme was extended to Monday, with Hércules sinking further in to trouble after losing 2-4 to Real Madrid Castilla. Local coach Juan Carlos Mandiá was given a reprieve by the legal administrator a few days ago after the board tried to sack him, and it looked as if the decision was revindicated when Gilvan opened the scoring early on, and Fran Mérida added a second after Sardinero was brought down by Mateos on the half hour mark. However just two minutes later Denis Cherychev got one back after Falcón blocked an effort by Morata, and a quarter of an hour in to the second half Casado found a gap in the defensive wall to level the scores with a well struck free kick. Visiting keeper Jesús did well to save from Gilvan a few minutes later, but Falcón let an effort by Morata in to the net, and with the game in injury time Jesé added a fourth to put the game beyond the reach of the home side. (08.10.12)