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Second Division - Day 31

No doubt the revelation side in the second division this season are Eibar, and they stay in top spot for another week after an impressive 1-4 victory at Mirandés on Saturday evening. Unbeaten in nine games, the Basque side took the lead with a long shot by Yuri in only the fifth minute. The left back got his second of the game with another shot from outside of the area ten minutes in to the second half, and Albentosa headed the third from a corner a few minutes later. Jota made it four with an individualist effort some twenty minutes before the end, and Díaz de Cerio took advantage of a failed clearance to get a late consolation for the locals with five minutes to go. Last week’s third placed team Recreativo are now seven points behind Eibar after they lost 2-0 at Lugo. Cifu did rattle the crossbar for the Andalusians early on in the second half, but with six minutes to go substitute Rennella got on the end of a Víctor Díaz cross to turn the ball past Cabrero, and just two minutes later the French striker set up Iago Díaz for him to fire home the second.

Las Palmas climb above Recre to third spot after they beat sixth placed Murcia 1-3 in their Nueva Condomina stadium. The turning point of the game came five minutes before the break when the referee awarded the visitors a hotly disputed penalty and sent off Alcalá for a foul on Momo which appeared to take place outside of the area, Momo himself stepping up to drive home the spot kick. Ten minutes in to the second half Aranda picked up a pass from Masoud to beat Casto for a second time, but with twenty minutes to go Alex Martínez got one back from a direct free kick. The locals were left with nine men though when Iván Moreno picked up a second booking, and Nauzet wrapped things up with an angled shot late on. Although ineligible for promotion, Barcelona B are in to the top six as well after they came from behind to beat Alavés 2-1. Stevanovic headed the Vitoria based side in front on the hour mark after the defence failed to clear Nano’s cross, but Sandro headed in a wide Denis Suárez free kick to equalize, and Suárez himself got the winner after running past three defenders to beat Goitia.

Alavés stay in next to bottom spot, now four points behind the team above them Alcorcón, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Jaén. The Madrid based team had not won at home since the end of September, and they caused few problems until Pacheco came on for the last half hour or so. However the Andalusians close ranks for a point which keeps them two above their hosts in the table. Jaén are now level on points with Córdoba, who are dropping perilously close to the relegation spots after a 3-2 defeat at Sabadell. The Andalusians took the lead through Nieto with just under twenty minutes gone when Clerc’s clearance deflected to him off Juanjo, but Anibal got on the end of Clerc’s cross to make it all square before the break, and Sotan Tanabe picked up a Collantes assist to put the Catalans in front just three minutes after the restart. Anibal made it three after Collantes set him up some twenty minutes in to the second half, and although Xisco got another one back a few minutes later, Chapi Ferrer’s side couldn’t prevent a defeat which leaves them two points below their hosts in the table. (22.03.14)

Deportivo kept up the pace with leaders Eibar, consolidating second spot thanks to a 0-1 victory at Zaragoza on Sunday lunchtime. The Maños had not won in seven games, but with Víctor Muñoz returning to his old club to take over from Paco Herrera midweek, there was hope of a turnaround. Visiting keeper Lux had to save from Alvaro and Roger early on, but with half an hour on the clock a shot by Laure hit the post and deflected in to the net off the back of Leo Franco, curiously very similar to the goal the Galicians scored against the same opponents half a season ago. Franco did well to prevent Luis from scoring a second before the break, and young substitute Diego Suárez went close a couple of times for the locals after the restart, but Depor held on for a win which leaves their hosts just a couple of points above the drop zone.

Sporting Gijón took advantage of Recre’s defeat to move up to third, the Asturians beating bottom club Girona 3-1 later in the evening. There were some boos from the local crowd as the players took to the field following some disappointing recent results, but midway through the first half they took the lead when Lekic picked up Lora’s cross to beat Isaac Becerra. Ortuña ran on to level the scores with an angled shot past Cuéllar some ten minutes later, but five minutes after that Scepovic put the locals back in front after the defence failed to clear a long free kick, and before the half time whistle his fellow Serbian Lekic made it three after holding off a couple of defenders to score. Little action in the second half though, and despite the win many supporters were still not happy with their performance.

Tenerife have been moving up the rankings recently, and they return to the play-off spots after thrashing struggling Ponferradina 5-0. Ayoze Pérez was the man wh did the damage, the young striker picking up a Suso assist to open the scoring in the eleventh minute, and then heading a second from a Cristo Martín corner with just over half an hour gone. A minute later Aridane made it three following a Javi Moyano centre, and midway through the second half Pérez completed his hat-trick after collecting another pass from Moyano. Acorán did test Roberto a couple of times at the other end, but substitute Edgar completed the scoring in injury time to leave Claudio Barragán’s side further down in the drop zone.

Only one point though separates sixth placed Tenerife from eleventh placed Mallorca, who beat Real Madrid Castilla 1-2 to clock up a second win in a row under new coach Lluis Carreras. Last week’s hat-trick hero Willian José turned villain when he got himself sent off for lashing out in retaliation at Agus, but even so Lucas put the youngsters ahead after Aguza’s shot came back off the post on the hour mark. The islanders came back with two in the last ten minutes from Hemed and Thomas, both following corners, but it took a last minute penalty save by Rubén Miño from Mascarell after Kevin fouled Lucas in the area to ensure the three points for the visitors. Numancia are level with Mallorca after they drew 0-0 at Hércules, the sixteenth time they have shared the points this season. The Soria based side have not lost away from home in over six months, and keepers Falcón and Biel Ribas had little work to do. The locals end the weekend just above the relegation spots, one of eight teams with only two points between them. (23.03.14)