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Second Division - Day 25

Almería consolidated second spot after a 5-1 victory over Sabadell on Friday evening. Xavi Gracia's side had not won in their last four home games, but Charles had a first minute goal disallowed for a previous foul before he got on the end of a Christian Fernández cross to open the scoring four minutes later. The Brazilian striker hit the bar with an overhead kick soon afterwards, and with just over half an hour on the clock his shot was only pushed out by Nauzet as far as Corona, who steered the ball back in to the net. Marcelo silva headed a third from Iago Falqué's cross early in the second half, and Soriano got the fourth from the penalty spot after Oscar Ramírez was sent off for a second bookable offence. The Catalans did get a late consolation when Christian put through his own net, but with the game coming to a close Charles scored his second of the night to take him to the top of the second division "Pichichi" chart with 14 goals to his name to date. (08.02.13)

Second division leaders Elche dropped points at home for the first time this season after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Córdoba on Saturday evening, although they maintain their thirteen point gap over third placed Girona as they too could only draw. Córdoba though had the better of the first half in the Martínez Valero stadium, with Aguilar going close from Dubarbier's free kick before the break. Visiting keeper Alberto had to make saves from Pelegrín, Fidel, Generelo and Xumetra after the restart, but substitute López Silva also tested Manu Herrera before getting himself sent near the end after picking up two yellow cards in less than a minute. Girona themselves had dropped out of the automatic promotion spots recently after only winning one of their last six games, and once again their fans left disappointed after their match against Hércules ended 1-1. Benja headed the Catalans in to an early lead from Sanchón's wide free kick, but Edu Bedía headed the equaliser seven minutes in to the second half after his first header came back off the bar, and Hércules keeper Falcón saved a Jandro penalty with a quarter of an hour to go to ensure a point for his side.

All of that helped Villarreal get back in to the play-off spots after Marcelino's team beat Ponferradina 3-0. The locals went close a couple of times before Cani intercepted a bad back-pass and initiated a counter-attack which ended with new boy Jonathan Pereira heading the opener past Santamaría on the half hour mark. A few minutes later another new signing Perbet headed the second from a long cross from the right, and the Belgian striker got his second of the evening some twelve minutes in to the second half, picking up a loose ball on the edge of the area before curling a shot past the keeper. Recreativo remain two points behind Villarreal in the table after they came back from a goal down to beat Murcia 1-2. New coach Onésimo, who took over from Gustavo Siverio midweek, saw Miguel Albiol put his team in front with a header from Sutil's centre in the first minute after the interval. However with just under an hour gone Alexander made it all square following a quick breakaway, and with a quarter of an hour to go Chuli got the winner for the Huelva based side, beating Javi Jiménez at the second attempt after his first shot came back off the upright.

Further down the rankings, Racing Santander moved off the bottom of the table after a 1-0 victory over Huesca, the first time the Cantabrians have won two matches in a row this season. Dorca got the only goal of the game on the quarter hour mark, picking up the rebound after Jairo hit the post and firing an angled shot past Luis García. Both sides hit the woodwork again before the break, Quini hitting the post and Mario pushing Palanca's shot on to the crossbar, and Borja missed a chance to equalise after the break. Dorca and Juanmi could have added to the scoreline later on, but Racing had done enough for three more points which takes them to within two of their opponents in the table. Xerez now find themselves in last spot after a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid Castilla. The Andalusians had not won in twelve games, and they were up against it when Rafa García was sent off for a second bookable offence only half an hour in to the match. Even so Lucas Porcar missed a couple of good chances, but with a draw seemingly on the cards, substitute Lucas Vázquez got on the end of Juanfran's cross to score the winner.

Sporting Gijón and Guadalajara move away from the danger zone though after both won their respective matches on Saturday evening. Sporting are now five points clear of the bottom four after beating Lugo 1-2, their first victory since the start of the new year. Guerrero gave the Asturians the lead in the third minute after the local defence failed to clear a Luis Hernández throw in, and the home side were left with ten men when Seoane was sent off for insulting the referee with only half an hour gone. Quique Setién's side fought back though after the break, and Oscar Díaz headed the equaliser from Manu's wide free kick before Trejo latched on to Bilic's assist to drill home the winner later on. Guadalajara stay two points behind Sporting after a 0-1 win at Barcelona B, a first home defeat for the youngsters since late October. Eusebio was missing several key players through injuries, suspensions and international duty, and his team hardly got going all night. Azkorra went close for the visitors a couple of times either side of half time, and substitute Kepa got on the end of Vicente's cross to score the only goal of the game with a quarter of an hour to go. (09.02.13)

Alcorcón moved up to third place in the table after a 3-1 victory over Las Palmas on a rainy Sunday night in Madrid. Juli opened the scoring for the locals midway through the first half after Nagore lobbed the ball across the area, and Oriol Riera made it two before the break, beating Barbosa at the second attempt after the keeper saved his first shot. Riera could have scored a third just a couple of minutes after the restart after Barbosa gave away a penalty on Miguélez, but the striker struck his spot kick wide of the post. However Fernando Sales did get a third after turning in Juli's cross, and a late consolation by Christantus after a good run by Thievy was not enough to prevent the Canary Islanders from dropping out of the play-off spots. Earlier in the evening Numancia and Mirandés played out a 0-0 draw, a result which left the Soria based side further down in the lower half of the table after only picking up two points from their last five games. Visiting keeper Goitia was the hero of the day, in particular with important saves from Cedric and Juanma, to help his team keep up their unbeaten record in 2013. (10.02.13)