Second Division - Day 10

Joint leaders Córdoba lost 3-2 at Alavés on Saturday evening, which means that Osasuna will stay in top spot whatever their result on Sunday. José Luis Oltra’s side took the lead with twenty minutes gone when Florin headed in a wide Fidel free kick, and although Toquero levelled it after connecting with Dani Pacheco’s centre, Fidel himself restored the lead after Florin set him up just before the break. However Pacheco made it all square again after the restart, and Pelegrín got on the end of a speculative Guichón shot to deflect the ball past Razak in the second minute of injury time. Alavés move on to sixteen points, level in the table with Alcorcón and Zaragoza. Alcorcón occupy third spot on goal difference though after thrashing Llagostera 6-1. The Madrid based side were five up at the break, David Rodríguez scoring three of those starting with a penalty after Fernando Román was fouled in the area. Razvan connected with a Natxo Insa cross to make it two, and Rodríguez latched onto a loose ball for the third soon afterwards. Before half time Oscar Plano headed the fourth and Rodríguez beat Ratti for his hat-trick, and after the break Plano scored again with another header from Nelson’s cross before Imaz got a late consolation for the Catalans.

Zaragoza drop to fourth after they were held to a 0-0 draw at Girona, one of three games which ended without goals on Saturday. Keepers Becerra and Bono were hardly troubled, and the Catalans end the day just two points above the drop zone having yet to win at home this season. Elche remain a point below Zaragoza after they drew 0-0 at home to Leganés. Sergio León and Toni had the best chances for either side, but in the end they settled for an eleventh draw in the seventeen meetings between the two teams. And the match between Bilbao Athletic and Huesca also ended scoreless, a result which leaves the hosts in next to bottom spot and their opponents four points above them in mid-table. The visitors had gone four games without defeat, and only a great performance by Spanish under 21 keeper Remiro prevented them from coming away from the San Mamés stadium with a victory. (24.10.15)

Osasuna are a point clear at the top of the second division despite being held to a 2-2 draw at Tenerife in the last match on Sunday. Roberto Torres put the Pamplona based side ahead with a well struck free kick in the fourth minute, but Omar picked up a Cristo assist to equalize on the stroke of half time. The locals were left with ten men when Alberto was sent off for catching Merino with a flying elbow just six minutes after the restart, and a few minutes later Oier restored the lead with a header from a Torres corner. However despite being down to nine men when Nano was carried off with all three changes made, the Canary Islanders saved a point when Germán scrambled the ball past Nauzet in the third minute of injury time. Earlier in the evening Numancia and Nàstic cancelled each other out in a 1-1 draw, the Catalans moving up to sixth spot and their hosts staying a point and a place below them in the table. Alex Alegría connected with a Pablo Valcarce cross to put the locals in front with twenty minutes to go, but De la Espada made it all square with an injury time penalty after he was brought down by Juanma in the area.

Oviedo drop out of the top six after they were beaten 4-2 by Ponferradina, the win taking Manolo Díaz’s side to within a point of the Asturians in the rankings. The locals have been unbeaten in their Toralín stadium this season, and although Susaeta gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot after Pavón handled in the area, strikes by Berrocla and Yuri turned the scoreline around by the break. With ten minutes to go Caiado made it three after combining with substitute Jebor, and although Susaeta converted a second penalty after Basha fouled David Fernández, Caiado rounded things off with second of the day after Jebor set him up once again. The second division is a tight as always though, with only four points separating third from seventeenth in the table, Albacete joining the group on twelve points after a 2-0 victory over Lugo. The Manchegans had lost their last three matches, but Rubén Cruz got on the end of a César Díaz cross to head them into the lead with just over half an hour gone. The result was in doubt though until Cruz fired home an injury time penalty after he was brought down in the area by Carlos Hernández.

Valladolid and Mallorca are also onto twelve points after both won their respective matches on Sunday. Miguel Angel Portugal was in charge at Valladolid for the first time after Gaizka Garitano was sacked, and he saw his new team beat Mirandés 2-1 to end a run of five games without a victory. Juan Villar opened the scoring following a good team move with a quarter of an hour gone, and with the first half coming to a close Villar set up Rodri for the second. Manu del Moral and Villar for the locals and Alex García for the visitors all hit the woodwork after the interval, and Abdon Prats got one back for the away team with an injury time free kick. Mallorca meanwhile won 1-0 against Almería in this Sunday’s mid-day kick-off to move out of the relegation zone and leave Tenerife in the bottom four. The visitors were also under new management after Joan Carrillo took over midweek, but Brandón headed in a Sissoko cross with ten minutes to go to leave the Andalusians in bottom spot after a seventh game without a win. (25.10.15)