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Second Division - Day 24

Deportivo extended their lead at the top of the second division pending Sunday’s games after a 2-1 victory over Sabadell on Saturday evening. The Catalans were left with ten men when Carlos Hernández was shown a second yellow card just three minutes in to the second half, and soon afterwards Salomao gave the locals the lead, the new signing squeezing a shot past Nauzet after a free kick fell to him. Numbers were evened up when Juan Domínguez also got his marching orders for a second bookable offence, but a few minutes later another new boy Toché ran on to a long Wilk clearance to make it two. Tanabe got one back though with a header from a corner, and Depor were let off the hook when the referee turned down a penalty after the ball hit Laure on the arm in the area. With Sporting Gijón playing on Sunday, Eibar took advantage to move up to second place after they beat Las Palmas 1-0. The Canary Islanders started the game just two points behind their hosts, but although Valerón went close early on, the Basque side were on top after that. Midway through the first half Mainz hit the post, and with half an hour on the clock Yuri got what was to be the only goal following a corner, Apoño clearing his deflected shot but (according to the referee), only after it had just crossed the line.

Ponferradina closed back up on the play-off spots after a 2-0 win over Murcia. The Castilla-León based side had not won since the start of the year, but they went ahead with a fourth minute Yuri penalty after the striker was brought down by Truyols when the ball got stuck in a waterlogged penalty area. Santamaría had to make a couple of saves at the start of the second half, but Truyols was sent off for a second caution, and the visitors were left with nine men for the last twenty minutes or so when Mauro went off injured with all three changes made. Even so the result was in doubt until five minutes from the end, when Acorán wrapped things up after Casto could only push a shot from Jonathan Ruíz. Further down the table Real Madrid Castilla climbed off bottom spot after a 4-0 victory over Hércules. The youngsters were two up at the break, José Rodríguez setting up Derik for the opener, and Raúl de Tomás making it two from an Omar Mascarell assist. Rodríguez himself got the third after connecting with a pass by Lucas, and Lucas wrapped things up in the last minute to take his team to within a point of their opponents in the table. (01.02.14)

Sporting Gijón are back up to second spot after beating Mallorca 1-3 in the Sunday mid-day game. The Asturians had been bumped out of the automatic promotion spots the day before by Eibar, but with a dull first half coming to an end, Nacho Cases latched on to Carmona’s cross to open the scoring. Some ten minutes in to the second half Canellas ran through from midfield to force a shot between Rubén Miño and his near post, and although Geijo got one back with three minutes to go from Generelo’s free kick, Carmona wrapped things up against his old side when he ran through to chip the keeper with the game already in injury time. It was not the result expected by the home fans, who had given an emotive send-off to their ex coach Luis Aragonés, who passed away yesterday morning.

Recreativo ended the weekend back in fourth place after a dramatic 2-1 victory over Alcorcón later in the evening. With their runaway lead at the start of the season now a distant memory (seven games without a win, and over three months since they last took the three points at home), Sergi Barjuán’s side were under pressure to get a result. Just before half time Jesús Vázquez put them in front, following up after Dani Giménez saved from Montoro, but the Andalusians were left with ten men when Dimas picked up a second booking, and with two minutes to go Cabrero could only push a Sergio Prendes header in to his own net following a corner. However with the game already in time added on, Fernando Vega latched on to a loose ball in the area to score the winner, and leave Miguel Alvarez’s team just a point outside of the drop zone. Recre move ahead of Zaragoza, who were surprisingly beaten 0-2 by Barcelona B. Denis Suárez volleyed home a sixth minute opener for Eusebio’s side from Adama Traoré’s cross, and local keeper Leo Franco had to make a string of saves before Traoré scored the second himself a quarter of an hour or so in to the second half.

Córdoba moved up in to the play-off spots, now just two points behind Zaragoza, after a 1-1 draw at Alavés. Pelayo took advantage of some slack marking to open the scoring for the visitors following a throw-in midway through the first half, but some ten minutes later Viguera made it all square with a angled shot which Saizar couldn’t keep out. The Andalusians could have won it had the referee not ruled out a late strike by Iago Bouzón for what he considered to be a previous foul, but Juan Carlos Mandiá’s side held on for a point which leaves them still down in the bottom four. Córdoba head up a group of four teams on 34 points, Las Palmas, Mallorca and Lugo, who were held to a 0-0 draw at Jaén. The locals had the better chances, visiting keeper José Juan having to save from Jona and Jozabed in particular in the first half, but they couldn’t prevent a third scoreless draw in a row in their La Victoria stadium.

Still only seven points separate the promotion spots from the relegation zone, Tenerife beating Mirandés 3-0 for a second win in a row which takes them from the lower reaches of the table to within a point of the top six. The Canary Islanders had the better chances early on, and Carlos Ruíz put them ahead with ten minutes to go to the interval from an Ayoze assist. Suso picked up a pass from Ricardo midway through the second half to run on and beat Prieto for the second, and just three minutes later he crossed in for Ayoze to head home the third. Mirandés drop to next to bottom spot, just a point above Girona, who find themselves at the foot of the table for the first time since winning back promotion some six years ago after they drew 0-0 at Numancia. Jandro and Palanca hit the woodwork for their respective sides, but it was another draw for both teams, a twelfth of the season for the home side, and a fifth in a row for the Catalans. (02.02.14)