If you are not a member yet, you can sign up here

Second Division - Day 8

Córdoba missed out on a chance to go top of the table when they were beaten 2-0 by Las Palmas on Saturday evening. Starting the weekend in second spot, they could have gone ahead early on had Barbosa not saved Xisco's penalty after Galán brought down López Silva in the area. Asdrúbal hit the bar for the locals soon afterwards, but otherwise the Andalusians were in top, with Barbosa in particular having to keep out Pedro. With just over an hour gone however Masoud set up Aranda to open the scoring, and with the game already in injury time Tana picked up a Nauzet assist to wrap things up for the Canary Islanders.

The other two games on Saturday ended without goals, Sporting Gijón moving up to second place after a 0-0 draw at Numancia. The locals had the better of the first half, but twenty minutes after the restart Regalón was sent off for a second bookable offence, and only a last minute save by Raúl from Lekic prevented the Asturians from taking the three points. Elsewhere Deportivo and Mirandés also drew 0-0, a result which kept the visitors in the top six, a point ahead of their hosts in the table. The Galicians have only scored one goal to date in the Riazor stadium this season, and once again they were lacking ideas as the visitors held on comfortably for a point. (05.10.13)

A high scoring game on Sunday lunchtime between two of the teams relegated from the top flight last season, Zaragoza running out 2-4 winners at Mallorca to move above their hosts in the table. Visiting keeper Leo Franco had to make a couple of early saves from Víctor Casadesús and Alfaro, but with ten minutes to go to the break Acevedo beat Miño from outside of the area to put the Maños ahead, and Henríquez took advantage of two crosses from Cortés to score twice more in the next eight minutes. Before the interval though Agus headed one back, and Abraham picked up a second rigorous yellow card to leave the visitors with ten men for the whole of the second half. However Barkero made it four a few minutes after the restart following a corner, and although Casadesús got a second from the penalty spot after Henríquez handled in the area, Paco Herrera's team could have won by a bigger margin had Miño not saved another Acevedo penalty after a handball in the area by Nunes with a quarter of an hour to go.

Later in the evening Recreativo extended their lead at the top of the table to four points after beating Tenerife 2-1, their fifth win in a row. It was not an easy win though, the Canary Islanders putting up a good fight, with Chechu Flores hitting the post early on and local keeper Cabrero having to make a string of saves. Montoro put the Huelva based side ahead though with a shot from outside of the area some three minutes in to the second half, but Cifu had to block a shot from Ayoze before the young forward latched on to a loose ball in the area to equalize a few minutes later. Tenerife's joy only lasted a minute though before Arana restored the lead, and although Cabrera had to save again from Moyano and Suso, a red card for a second bookable offence by Ricardo León left Alvaro Cervera's side with too much to do in the end.

Sporting stay in second place after Sunday's games, with four teams just a point behind them in the table. Ponferradina are the first of those on goal difference after they beat Barcelona B 1-0, the León based side's fourth win out of four in their own Toralín stadium. Both sides had their chances, but the locals won it with a soft Fofo penalty after Samper handled in the area with a quarter of an hour to go. Murcia drop to fourth however after they were beaten 3-2 by struggling Jaén. Edgar set up Víctor Curto to give the locals the lead with just over fifteen minutes gone, and Curto himself made the second for Jona on the half hour mark. Kike García got one back for the visitors after the break after he was brought down by Hugo Alvarez, but Quesada headed a third for the Andalusians, and a second penalty by García after a foul by Servando in injury time came far too late to change the result.

Córdoba and Mirandés are the other two clubs on fourteen points, and Alcorcón are one of three just a point below them after they could only draw 0-0 at Elbar. Neither side had managed a victory in their last three matches, and once again they had to settle for a point. Nagore came close to scoring for the visitors though when he hit the bar in the seventh minute, but after that only first rate saves by visiting keeper Dani Giménez prevented Eizmendi, Jota and Urko Vera from giving the Basque side the three points. Girona and Sabadell drop three points below the play-off spots as well after they cancelled each other out in a 1-1 draw. Young substitute Pere Pons put the locals in front with an angled shot from outside of the area with a quarter of an hour to go, but Collantes headed the equalizer past Isaac after a speculative shot by Juanjo from his own half came back off the crossbar.

Bottom club Real Madrid Castilla finally got their first points on the board, a 2-0 victory over Lugo taking a lot of the pressure off Alberto Toril. After only netting twice in the first seven games, the coach changed his system to put out a line-up without a recognised number nine, and it paid off when José Rodríguez set up Jaime Romero to open the scoring in the eighth minute. Later in the first half Jaime provoked a penalty which Omar Mascarell converted, and the Galicians could not get past a well organised defence after that. Castilla move to within three points of Hércules, who drop further in to the relegation zone after a 3-1 defeat at Alavés in the last game of the weekend. Eldin took advantage of some slack defending to put the visitors in front in the ninth minute, but a Ion Vélez header from Guzmán's corner made it all square on the half hour mark. Some six minutes in to the second half Toti headed in a Guzmán cross to turn the scoreline around, and Viguera wrapped things up following Nano's centre with twenty minutes to go. (06.10.13)