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Second Division - Day 37

Deportivo are making hard work of their fight to return to the top flight, and on Saturday they threw away a two goal lead before holding on to draw 2-2 against regional rivals Lugo. Ifrán gave Fernando Vázquez’s side the lead in the tenth minute, beating Dani Mallo after Rabello put him through, and three minutes before half time Insúa headed in a Rabello corner for the second. Lux had to save from Rennella though at the start of the second half, and with twenty minutes to go the on-loan Betis forward connected with Víctor Díaz’s cross to get one back. Vázquez put on an extra defender to try and protect the lead, but with three minutes to go Rennella equalized following a Pablo Alvarez free kick, the referee waving away claims for a previous foul, and only a last minute save from Lux prevented Rennella from going away with the match ball.

Murcia are up to fourth in the table pending Sunday’s games after a 2-3 win at Hércules. Saúl intercepted a bad Héctor Font back-pass to open the scoring with just under half an hour gone, and although Gai Assulín beat Casto to equalize shortly before the break, the visitors went back in front when Font turned Molinero’s cross in to his own net early on in the second half. Kike García added a third on a quick counter-attack just three minutes later, and even though De Lucas scored from a free kick after Truyols was sent off for cutting out a Portillo attack with his arm, the goal came too late to change the result. Sporting Gijón are out of the play-off spots once again though after they lost 1-0 at Alcorcón. Lekic fired an early chance over the top for the visitors, but after that the Asturians hardly got a look at goal. With a quarter of an hour gone Babín headed in a Dani Pacheco corner to put the locals in front, and after Bernardo was sent off for a second bookable offence at the beginning of the second half, any hopes of a comeback ended.

Córdoba are now above Sporting on the head-to-head record after they beat Barcelona B 0-1 in their Mini-Estadi. Although ineligible for promotion, Eusebio’s team had moved up to third in the table after a run of nine games without defeat. Neither side created any real chances before the break, but after the restart Abel hit the post with a long free kick, and Edu Bedía responded hitting the upright at the other end. Uli Dávila got the only goal though with twenty minutes or so to go, making himself space before beating Masip with an angled shot, to make it 14 points out of a possible 18 for Chapi Ferrer’s side. Further down the table Ponferradina moved away from the danger zone after coming from behind to beat Alavés 2-1. Samuel headed the visitors in to the lead from a corner with ten minutes to go to the interval, but Fofo equalized with a well struck free kick early on in the second half, and Acorán got the winner after picking up a long clearance from keeper Santamaría with twenty minutes left on the clock. The defeat leaves Alavés back in next to bottom spot pending Sunday’s fixtures. (03.05.14)

Las Palmas consolidated fourth place with a 1-2 victory at Zaragoza on Sunday lunchtime. The Canary Islanders got off to a flying start with two goals by Vicente Gómez in the first ten minutes, the first a header from a Castillo cross, and the second a lob over keeper Leo Franco after Masoud put him through. Five minutes later though Paco Montañés got one back following a César Arzo assist, and only a good save by Barbosa prevented Montañés from levelling the scores before the break. The result leaves the Maños down in fifteenth place, and their chances of making it in to the play-off spots is now even more remote. Las Palmas are still five points behind second placed Eibar though after the Basque side won 0-2 at Mallorca later in the evening. After four defeats in a row the locals desperately needed a win, and they had the better of the first hour or so, with Moreno having a goal disallowed and Nsue and Moreno hitting the bar. However with fifteen minutes to go David Mainz took advantage of a passive defence to turn a shot past Rubén Miño, and just four minutes later the striker got his second of the evening after the keeper failed to hold on to Capa’s chested pass close to goal. The result leaves the islanders just a point above the drop zone, and the few fans who stayed to the end protested strongly at the directors’ box and the players.

Tenerife drop three points behind Las Palmas in the table after they were beaten 0-1 by bottom club Girona. Keepers Roberto and Becerra had to save shots from Juanlu and Ayoze Pérez before the break, but just a minute or so after the restart the referee awarded a hotly disputed penalty for hands by Javi Moyano which Jandro converted. Suso had a strike ruled out for offside, but otherwise chances were few and far between, and the Canary islanders fell to a second defeat in a row by a single penalty. Girona though move off the foot of the table after a second win in a row, and they are now just a point away from safety. Tenerife remain in the play-off spots, although now they are only point ahead of three teams, Sporting, Córdoba and Recreativo, who themselves could only draw 0-0 against Numancia. Both teams had only won once in their last nine matches, the visitors having drawn over half their games this season, and the first half was soporific. Both keepers were at least tested after the interval, Biel Ribas saving from Joselu and Linares, and Cabrero having to keep out Gaffoor, Juanma and Akapo, but in the end the two teams settled for a point.

Everything is still wide open however, with only twelve points separating the play-off spots from the last place, currently occupied by Hércules after Girona’s win. Real Madrid Castilla moved a point above the Alicante based side after they drew 1-1 against Jaén, who themselves stay a point above the relegation places as a result. Lucas Vázquez picked up a pass from Burgui to give the youngsters the lead midway through the first half, but substitute Oscar Rico equalized soon afterwards following good work by Víctor Curto to leave Manolo Díaz’s side without a win in their last seven games. Elsewhere Mirandés and Sabadell drew 2-2 in the last match of the weekend to leave both safely in mid-table. Cristian García picked up a pass from Collantes to put the Catalans ahead in the sixth minute, but a few minutes later Martí Crespí deflected Garmendia’s header in to his own net following a Pablo Infante corner, and with half an hour on the clock the action was repeated with different actors, this time Llorente deflecting Goiria’s effort past Nauzet from a Ríos corner. However Javier Flaño was sent off on the hour mark for bringing down Anibal in the area, and the Mexican striker stepped up to level the scores once again from the resulting spot kick. (04.05.14)