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Second Division - Day 33

Second division leaders Elche could only draw 0-0 at home to Lugo on Saturday evening, although with a thirteen point gap over the second placed side pending Sunday's games they are still odds-on favourites for promotion. Fran Escribá's side had only won one of their last four games, and only a couple of saves by Manu Herrera from Oscar Díaz and De Coz prevented them from going behind before the break. Xumetra did go close for the locals a couple of times after the restart, but Iván Pérez almost won it for the visitors when he hit the crossbar later on.

Second placed Alcorcón were beaten 0-1 though by Racing Santander, and they could be out of the automatic promotion spots by the end of the weekend. Héctor Yuste got the only goal for the Cantabrians with a shot from outside of the area in the seventh minute, and Juanmi and Koné could have increased the lead had local keeper Manu Fernández not been on his toes later in the first half. Sales, Enrich and Sanz tried their luck after the break, but they could not prevent a win for Alex Melendez's team which takes them out of the relegation spots for the first time in five months.

Las Palmas consolidated their place in the play-off spots after a 0-1 victory against the team just below them in the table, Ponferradina. Visiting keeper Barbosa had to save from Yuri, Lafuente and Moyordomo before the break, but with a draw seemingly on the cards, Thievy cut past two defenders to score the winner with only a minute left on the clock. The Canary Islanders are now five points ahead of their opponents, and seven above Barcelona B, who could only draw 1-1 against struggling Mirandés. Both teams had lost their last three games, but the locals started better, with Dongou firing a shot against the bar before the break. Luis Alberto gave Eusebio's side the lead with a well struck free kick after the restart, and although Mújika beat Masip to level the scores on the hour mark, the visitors still found themselves down in the bottom four at the end of the day. (06.04.13)

Almería are back up to second in the table for the first time in a month after they beat Recreativo 2-1 on Sunday evening. The visitors played over an hour with ten men after Dimas was sent off following a late tackle on Charles, and coach Sergi Barjuán was also shown a red card a few minutes later for protesting. With three minutes to go to the break Charles himself opened the scoring, the second division top scorer heading Rafita's cross past Cabrero for his twentieth of the season, and the Brazilian striker came close to a second after the restart. With twenty minutes to go though Aleix Vidal did make it two with another header after a defender headed back Christian's long throw-in, and although Ruymán headed in a Cifu corner to narrow the gap, the goal came too late to change the result.

Villarreal are just a point behind Almería in the table though after they thrashed Numancia 6-1, their eleventh game in a row without defeat. Marcelino's side were already two up with only twelve minutes gone, Perbet and Canteros both beating Herrerín, and although Cedric set up Pedro Martín to get one back before the break, Gerard Moreno restored the two goal cushion after picking up a Juan Carlos clearance just a minute after the restart. Perbet got his second of the evening from the penalty spot after Regalón handled in the area midway through the second half, and Uche turned in a cross from the left wing for the fifth with five minutes to go. And with the game coming to an end Regalón turned Mario's cross in to his own net to complete the set, and to make it eleven goals now for the "Yellow Submarine" in their last two matches.

It was a high scoring day in the second division though, Girona staying level on points with Villarreal after a 5-2 win over Murcia. Felipe Sanchón won his side two penalties in the first half hour, the first he converted himself after Molinero was sent off for the foul, and the second he handed over for Luso to score. Matilla pulled one back before the interval following an indirect free kick inside the area, but eight minutes in to the second half Toni Moral scored a third for the Catalans with a cross-come-shot over the head of Javi Jiménez. A quarter of an hour later Javier Acuña volleyed home the fourth from Luso's headed pass, and although Cristian "Ruso" García battled through to bag a second for the visitors, Acuña forced a shot past Jiménez to complete the scoring near the end.

Seven goals as well in the Nova Creu Alta stadium, where hosts Sabadell cut short Sporting Gijón's recent good run with a 4-3 victory. The Catalans had lost their last four games, but they raced in to a two goal lead in the first eight minutes, Anibal opening the scoring after combining with Lanzarote and Moha straight from the kick off, and Abraham Paz heading in a corner soon afterwards. Sangoy replied with a well-struck free kick, and although Collantes made it three for the locals with another free kick, David Rodríguez scored again for the Asturians on the stroke of half time. Three minutes after the break Lanzarote converted a penalty after Anibal was fouled by Borja, but Anibal got himself sent off after backing in to Bernardo ten minutes later, and Bilic controlled a long ball out of defence with an hour on the clock to beat Nauzet for a third time, setting up a nail biting last half hour for the local fans.

Sabadell move level with Sporting in mid-table, and Córdoba are only just a point above them after they lost 3-1 to Guadalajara. The locals were in need of a win to keep them clear of the drop zone, and after dominating the first half they went in front just before the break, Alex García heading Alvaro Antón's cross wide of Alberto. A couple of minutes after the restart César got on the end of an Antón corner to make it two, and Juanjo latched on to a loose ball inside the area to score his side's third soon afterwards. Substitute Abel Gómez pulled one back with a free kick which curled wide of Razak midway through the second half, but it was not enough to prevent a fourth away defeat in a row for the Andalusians. With the play-offs slipping from their grasp, coach Rafa Berges was fired not long after the final whistle, Juan Eduardo Esnáider named as his replacement the following day.

Guadalajara move six points clear of the relegation spots, and their regional neighbours Real Madrid Castilla stay level with them after a comfortable 5-1 win over struggling Huesca. Jesé climbed off his sick bed to open the scoring from Juanfran's cross in the ninth minute, and five minutes later Juanfran set up Borja for the second. Jesé stayed on long enough after the break to make it three after a corner came back out to him, and although Borja González got a consolation goal for the visitors, the youngsters scored two more near the end, the first a Lázaro own goal trying to clear a wide Alex free kick, and the second a volley by Lucas, Huesca stay in next to bottom spot, two points below Hércules, who were held to a dull 0-0 draw by bottom club Xerez. The match was withdrawn from the bookies' rosters after irregular betting patterns were noticed, and the only incident of note was a first half boycott by local fans as their team completed half a season without a win. (07.04.13)