Second Division - Day 39

Third placed Getafe kept up the pressure on Girona with a 2-0 victory over Elche on Friday evening. Jorge Molina headed in a Damián Suárez corner with twenty minutes gone, and then volleyed home a second after Dani Pacheco laid the ball back from the by-line midway through the second half to take his team to within four points of the Catalans, and to at least virtually ensure them a place in the play-offs. The defeat leaves Elche further down in the relegation spots, still a point below Nàstic, who also remain in the bottom four after a 2-0 defeat at Rayo Vallecano earlier in the evening. Gazzaniga made the save of the day from a Manu Barreira header at the start of the second half, and just a minute later Manucho gave the locals the lead after Comesaña passed the ball across following a corner. And ten minutes later Embarba made it two with a shot through a crowded goal mouth to take the Madrid based side six points clear of their opponents in the table. (19.05.17)

Second placed Girona are starting to falter coming in to the final reaches of the season, and they are now only five points ahead of Getafe after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Alcorcón on Saturday. Borja García, Pere Pons and Cristian Herrera all went close for the Catalans after the break, but Dmitrovic and his defence held fast for a point which keeps them just above the relegation spots. Other than Getafe though, Girona’s closest rivals all failed to take advantage, fourth placed Tenerife also drawing 0-0 at home to the already promo ted Levante. Aarón had a strike disallowed for offside, and Lozano and Cristo both hit the woodwork for the Canary Islanders, but the Valencia based side kept control to ensure the point they needed to be proclaimed second division champions, albeit that they would have secured the title anyway thanks to Girona’s draw. Fifth placed Cádiz could only draw as well at home to regional neighbours Córdoba, visiting keeper Kieszek making several saves before Aketxe beat him with a free kick soon after the restart, and Alfaro equalizing late on to keep his team three points above the drop zone.

Huesca stay in sixth place pending Sunday’s games after they lost 3-1 at UCAM Murcia, Jona scoring twice for the locals in the first quarter of the match, and Vinicius replying for the visitors before Morillas wrapped things up in injury time. Oviedo missed out on a chance though to return to the play-off places after they could only draw 0-0 with Zaragoza, a sixth game in a row without a win for Fernando Hierro’s side. The Maños ended with ten men as keeper Ratón was sent off after picking up two rigorous bookings in succession for time wasting, and they too are not yet fully clear of the battle to avoid the drop. Reus though would appear to be safe after they beat Sevilla Atlético 2-1, Fran Carbià giving the Catalans an early lead, and Haro adding a second in the dying minutes before Ivi got an injury time consolation for the youngsters with a direct free kick. Still though only seven points separate eleventh placed Rayo from next to bottom club Mallorca, who kept their hopes of survival alive with a 1-0 win over Almería. Brandon got the only goal for the Balearic Islanders with ten minutes to go to the break to take Sergi Barjuán’s side to within two points of escaping the relegation spots. (20.05.17)

With the first division occupying centre stage as they enter the final round of matches of the season, there were only two games in the second division on Sunday, Valladolid kicking things off at mid-day with a 2-2 draw at bottom club Mirandés which takes them above Huesca and in to the play-off spots. Paco Herrera’s side seemed to be on the way to a comfortable win when they went two up before the break, José Arnáiz putting them ahead from an Espinoza cross, and De Tomás making it two from the penalty spot after Roberto brought him down. The keeper picked up a booking for the foul and a second yellow card for kicking the ball away in protest, but the ten men fought back after the interval, Eguaras converting a second penalty for a foul by Lichnovsky on Guarrotxena, and Balbi putting through his own net in injury time. Mirandés still need a small miracle to survive though, but Lugo are safe for another season after they beat Numancia 0-1 later in the evening. Joselu headed the winner for the Galicians on the hour mark to join Levante’s Roger as the second division’s top scorer, both one goal ahead of Zaragoza’s Angel. (21.05.17)