Spanish Second Division "A": LaLiga2, 2019-2020

[AlanK]

Today's games, as LaLiga2 kicks off Jornada 38

1700 Numancia 1, Extremadura 0 This game is about beating the dreaded drop. Numancia is the top of the drop, four points ahead of Extremadura. The latter is running out of chances; the former has a chance to climb above the drop with a win, but only if one of the two teams three points ahead of them loses. Calero gives Numancia the lead at 13'--1-0 at the half. Numancia holds on to win and climbs, for the moment, out of the drop to 17th place.

1700 Racing 1, Elche 2 Two extremes here--Racing is the "farolillo rojo," 14 points back of the lowest team not in the drop--that is, they're toast Elche is in the last playoff spot; probably needs a win to stay there. Guillermo gives Racing the lead at 33'. Elche REALLY doesn't want to lose to the colista. Halftime: 1-0. And indeed, Elche comes back to lead: Fidel with a pk at 63' ties it, and Jonathas gives them the lead at 72'--1-2. Elche wins; they take fifth place from Girona on H2H.

1930 Almería 1, Tenerife 2 Almería is in fourth place, just one point back of a direct promotion spot. A win today would leave them no worse than second--at least until tomorrow. Tete has come on strong of late--3-2-0 in their last five games; they are 10th, but just two points back of the last playoff spot. At 7', Darwin makes it 1-0 for Almería. Milla ties for Tete with a pk at 37'--1-1 at the half. Looked to be a tie, but at 92', Bermejo scores to give Tete the win Now with 53 points, Tenerife climbs to seventh place, although that may change before the jornada ends. Almería will finish the jornada in fourth place.

2145 Cádiz 2, Oviedo 0 Cádiz leads LaLiga2, but their lead is just two points over second place Huesca and third place Zaragoza--their record since the restart is just 1-4-1. Oviedo is two places and three points above the drop--can they get something here to be sure of staying above the drop through Sunday's games At 44', Lozano gives Cádiz the lead--1-0. If this holds, Cádiz will have a five point lead over second and third places going into Sunday's and Monday's games. Lozano scores his second of the game at 51'--2-0, and Cádiz strengthens their hold on first place. Oviedo stays above the drop on GD.

2145 Fuenlabrada 2, Mirandés 2 Fuenla is two points and three places below the last playoff spot. Mirandés is one point and three places below Fuenla. Scoreless first half in the Fernando Torres. At 63', Merquelanz gives Mirandés the lead--0-1. Hugo Fraile ties for Fuenla at 71' with a pk--1-1. At 77', Matheus counters with a pk for Mirandés--1-2. Anderson ties for Fuenla at 91'--2-2 the final. Not what either of them wanted

[AlanK]

Today's games--Sun. July 5

1700 Dépor 2, Huesca 1 Dépor is and will remain at least a point above the drop. Huesca is in the magic promotion spot--second place--and must win this game to be sure of staying there. At 8', Rafa Mir heads Huesca into the lead, despite a defender hanging onto his arm--0-1. At 19', Aketxe ties with a shot from outside the area--1-1. At 43', Christian Santos gives Dépor the lead with an incredible chilena--2-1 at the half. Huesca pushing hard in the second half. Really good game But Huesca cannot break through, and now Zaragoza controls their own fate as far as direct promotion goes.

1930 Las Palmas 3, Ponferradina 0 Canaries are three points above the drop. Ponfe is one point and one place ahead of the Canaries. Scoreless first half in the Estadio Gran Canaria. At 70', Rubén Castro converts a pk go give Las Palmas the lead--1-0. The final score is a bit misleading--Narváez scored at 91' and 93' to pad the scorecard a bit.

1930 Málaga 0, Albacete 0 Málaga is one point and four places above the drop. El Alba is the top of the drop, tied on points with the two teams ahead of them, Oviedo and Numancia. Scoreless first half in the Rosaleda. And 0-0 is how it ends. The point for Albacete will keep them out of the drop at the end of the jornada.

2145 Alcorcón 2, Lugo 2 Two teams in very different circumstances. Alcor, going into this game, is eighth, three points back of the last playoff spot. Lugo is in 20th place, three points below the lowest team not in the drop. At 1', Rui Costa gives Alcor the lead--1-0. Carrillo ties for Lugo at 47'--1-1. At 70', Alex Mula makes it 2-1. At 74', Hacen ties it--2-2. With this result, Alcor is eighth, two points back of the last playoff spot. Lugo remains #20--in the drop.

[matt]

Please Real Saragoza, don't waste (again) this opportunity.

[AlanK]

Today's games--Mon. July 6

1930 Sporting 0, Girona 0 Sporting is five points above the drop and six points back of the last playoff spot--they probably won't end up going up or down Girona is in the last playoff spot; a win here could give them a shot at the magic second spot which carries direct promotion; winning would leave them three points shy of that place (before Zaragoza plays, anyway.) Scoreless first half in the Molinón. And also a scoreless second half. Girona finishes the jornada all alone in fifth place. Sporting is five points back of the last playoff spot.

2145 Zaragoza 2, Rayo 4 Zaragoza will be well-placed--IF they win this one. At the moment, they're third, back of the magic second spot only on H2H with Huesca, so even a tie would lift them to second. Rayo has lost fewer games than any other team in LaLiga2, but only four teams have won fewer games. A win would tie them on points with Tenerife and Alcorcón for the place just below the last playoff spot. Zaragoza is off to a great start--Atienza scores at 5'; 1-0. Juan Villar ties for Rayo at 45'+2'--1-1 the score at the half. And at 51', Juan Villar scores his second of the evening for Rayo--1-2. Don't worry, all of you Zaragoza fans--Rayo always blows leads like this of late Or not--Alvaro García makes it 1-3 at 53'. . . . But there's still a looooong way to go. Quite a game in the Romareda, where Javi Puado makes it 2-3 at 60'--game on Toss me a fish At 94', . . . . . . it's RAYO that scores Oscar Trejo ices it Rayo's high point of the season . . . 2-4 the final.

[AlanK]

Jornada 38 is in the books--four games to go for one and all The top and the drop

1. Cádiz-------------66 points; +48-35 Next at Extremadura.
2. Huesca------------61 points; +49-40 Hosts Alcorcón; the latter is unbeaten on the road
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3. Zaragoza----------61 points; +53-43 At Tenerife.
4. Almería-----------60 points; +58-38 At Girona. HUGE game for both
5. Girona------------56 points; +43-38 Hosts Almería.
6. Elche-------------55 points; +47-39 At Mirandés.
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7. Rayo--------------53 points; +51-42 Hosts Numancia.
8. Tenerife-----------53 points; +47-41 Hosts Zaragoza.
9. Alcorcón----------53 points; +49-46 At Huesca. Game of the Month
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17. Albacete---------45 points; +30-42 Hosts Sporting.
18. Numancia--------44 points; +40-46 At Rayo.
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19. Oviedo----------44 points; +41-48 Hosts Las Palmas.
20. Lugo------------42 points; +36-50 At Ponferradina. The city of Lugo is under lockdown for coronavirus
21. Extremadura-----37 points; +37-51 Hosts Cádiz.
22. Racing----------30 points; +37-52 At Fuenlabrada. ¡Hasta siempre

[AlanK]

Today's games--Tues. July 7--still lots to play for, as three teams battle for direct promotion, and at least seven teams have a reasonable shot at climbing into a playoff-for-promotion spot

2030 Fuenlabrada 1, Racing 0 Fuenla is four points back of the last playoff spot; at seven points above the drop, they are relatively safe. Racing is mathematically condemned to drop to LaLiga2 next season. Scoreless first half in the Fernando Torres. Oriol Riera scores at 63' to win it for Fuenla, at the moment with 54 points and alone in seventh place, but likely to be passed by a cast of thousands before the jornada ends.

1930 Mirandés 1, Elche 0 Mirandés is five points back of Elche; the latter is the lowest team in a playoff spot. Mirandés is six points above the drop. Elche probably must win this game to stay in a playoff spot at the end of this jornada. Scoreless first half in Anduva. At 54', André scores what proves to be the winner for Mirandés, now one of four teams two points back of Elche for the last playoff spot. Will Rayo, Tenerife, or Alcor win and pass Elche, thus moving into the last playoff spot Or maybe all three will win

2145 Extremadura 0, Cádiz 1 Extremadura, in 21st place, has to go some to beat the drop. They must win at least three games to have any chance, and probably have to win all four--their other three are against Dépor, Sporting, and Las Palmas. Cádiz leads the league by five points over both Huesca and Zaragoza; finishing as one of the top two wins them outright promotion, so three wins guarantee promotion--they play, in those three games, Fuenlabrada, Sporting, and Albacete. Cádiz is mathematically guaranteed a playoff spot, come what may. Lozano gives Cádiz the lead at 23'; that's where they are at the half--0-1. And that's the final from the Francisco de la Hera. Cádiz stretches their lead atop LaLiga2 to eight points over Huesca and Zaragoza, both of which play in the next two days.

[AlanK]

Today's games--Wed. July 8

1930 Málaga 1, Dépor 0 A season both of these teams would like to forget, as befits a game in which #16 in the standings hosts #15. Málaga has arrived at this game two points above the drop, and would normally be favored in this home game, but Dépor has recovered from a horrible season since the restart, with a record of 3-4-0 to climb from deep in the drop to four points thereabove, looking especially good in last weekend's 2-1 win over second-place Huesca. Hicham scores what proves to be the winner for Málaga at 61'. Málaga climbs past Dépor; for the moment, Málaga is five points above the drop.

1930 Oviedo 2, Las Palmas 1 Oviedo is the top of the drop, after a basically woeful season to this point. They are tied on points with the team ahead of them, Numancia, which is above the drop only on H2H vs Oviedo. Las Palmas is six points above the drop, enjoying relative safety therefrom. A playoff spot is not impossible, but is unlikely. At 37', Alfredo Ortuño runs onto a long pass, beats the defender and puts the ball over the goalie and into the net with a sweeeeet vaselina--1-0. The Canaries protested loud and long, but at 41', VAR allowed the goal. Can Oviedo hold the lead Sangalli makes it 2-0 at 50'; Rubén Castro cuts the margin to 2-1 at 68', but Oviedo hangs on. Oviedo is above the drop; will be there at the jornada's end unless both Numancia and Albacete win tomorrow.

2145 Huesca 2, Alcorcón 1 This is one of three candidates for Game of the Week. Huesca is in second place on H2H vs Zaragoza, so they must win to be sure of staying in an direct promotion spot. Alcor is the only team unbeaten on the road all season in the top two divisions--their record is 7-12-0 away from Santo Domingo. Can Huesca be the first team playing at home to beat Alcor this season Alcor's home record is an awful 5-5-9, so they are below the playoff spots, but only by two points going into today's game, so a win in El Alcoraz would boost them into fifth or sixth place which are both playoff spots, depending on their margin of victory. Cristo makes it 1-0 for Huesca at 21'. Josué Sá puts one into his own net to tie it for Alcor at 30'--1-1. Okazaki makes it 2-1 for the home team at 45'+3'--2-1 at the half. Huesca holds to win Alcor loses on the road for the first time in 20 league games; Huesca guarantees that they'll be in the magic second place when the jornada ends.

2145 Ponferradiina 0, Lugo 1 Ponfe has lost three in a row, which has dropped them to 14th place, just four points above the drop. Lugo is 20th, two points back of the lowest team not in the drop, so a win could lift them thereabove. Still scoreless in the second half. Barreiro wins it for Lugo with a pk at 87'--0-1 the final. Lugo passes both Numancia and Albacete, the latter only on H2H, and climbs out of the drop.

[AlanK]

Jornada 39 draws to a close today, and then LaLiga2 takes Friday off, beginning Jornada 40 on Saturday.

Today's games, Thurs. 9 July

1930 Albacete 1, Sporting 1 El Alba is the top of the drop going into this game--a win guarantees them ending the jornada two places higher. Sporting is in mid-table, five points above the drop and five points below the last playoff spot. Sporting beat Alba 2-0 in the Molinón in their first meeting this season. Aitor gives Sporting the lead at 22'--0-1 at the half in the Carlos Belmonte. Zozulia ties for el Alba at 69'--and 1-1 is the final. At the moment, the point lifts Alba above the drop--whether they stay there depends on the rest of today's action.

2030 Rayo 3, Numancia 2 Rayo comes off their big win in Zaragoza. Rayo is in eighth place; a win lifts them into the last playoff spot. Numancia is 20th, a point back of the lowest team not in the drop. These two tied 2-2 in Los Pajaritos earlier this season. Mario Suárez converts a pk at 26' to give Rayo the lead--1-0. At 45'+4', De Frutos makes it 2-0--now at the half. This result, if it holds, would lift Rayo into a playoff spot and keep Numancia in the drop. At 57', Higinio Marín heads in off a free kick--2-1. At 64', Juan Villar is fouled in the area--penalty. At 65', Higinio Marín sees a red card--something he said At 66', Juan Villar converts the pk himself--3-1. Curro cuts the margin to 3-2 at 72', but that's as close as Numancia can come. Rayo climbs into the last playoff spot. Numancia stays at #20.

2145 Girona 1, Almería 0 Both are in playoff spots: Girona is fifth, currently nine points shy of the magic second spot; Almería is fourth, four points ahead of Girona and four points back of the second spot. Almería beat Girona 3-1 in the Juegos Mediterráneos in their first meeting this season. Scoreless first half in Montilivi. At 77', Stuani (who else ) converts a pk, and that's the winner--1-0.

2145 Tenerife 1, Zaragoza 1 Tete has come alive with a record of 4-2-0 in their last six games; this leaves them ninth at the moment, two points shy of the last playoff spot. Zaragoza is third going into today's game, and could finish a spot lower if Almería wins. Zaragoza is three points back of the magic second spot; they cannot overtake Huesca, which has H2H vs Zaragoza. Zaragoza hosted Tenerife in the first game of the season last August and came out with a 2-0 win. At 5', Luis Suárez makes it 0-1 for Zaragoza. Milla ties with a pk at 15' for Tete--1-1 at the half. And it ends 1-1 in the Heliodoro.

[AlanK]

LaLiga2 has completed its jornada; that won't happen in LaLiga until tomorrow, when LaLiga2 gets a rare day off. The top and the drop

1. Cádiz--------------69 points; +49-35 Looks like a champ; next hosts Fuenlabrada.
2. Huesca-------------64 points; +51-41 Now all alone in second place; at Racing.
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3. Zaragoza-----------62 points; +54-44 Hosts Oviedo.
4. Almería------------60 points; +58-39 Hosts Rayo.
5. Girona-------------59 points; +44-38 At Lugo.
6. Rayo---------------56 points; +54-44 At Almería.
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7. Elche--------------55 points; +47-40 Hosts Albacete.
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17. Oviedo-----------47 points; +43-49 At Zaragoza.
18. Albacete----------46 points; +31-43 At Elche.
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19. Lugo-------------45 points; +37-50 Hosts Girona.
20. Numancia---------44 points; +42-49 Hosts Ponferradina.
21. Extremadura-------37 points; +37-52 At Dépor.
22. Racing------------30 points; +37-53 Hosts Huesca.

[AlanK]

LaLiga2 embarks on Jornada 40--today's games, Sat. 11 July

1700 Racing 1, Huesca 0 Racing has long since dropped mathematically. Huesca must win to be sure to stay in the magic #2 spot in LaLiga2--they have direct promotion in their hands and surely won't blow it today At 26', Guillermo gives Racing the lead--1-0. Don't tell me that Huesca is gonna blow this game Now in the second half. And halfway through the second half, Racing is holding onto their lead Well, toss me a fish Racing holds to win it Even a tie would have kept Huesca ahead of Zaragoza, assuming the latter wins, since Huesca has H2H. "A veces el balón no entra."

1930 Las Palmas 1, Mirandés 0 Each has an outside hope of reaching a playoff spot --Las Palmas would surely need to win all three remaining games, and even that probably wouldn't suffice. Mirandés, three points ahead of the Canaries and three points back of the last playoff spot, has a better chance. Scoreless first half in the Estadio Gran Canaria. Canaries win it on a pk by--who else--Rubén Castro at 85'. Canaries are now three points back of the last playoff spot; they are back of Mirandés only on H2H.

2145 Cádiz 0, Fuenlabrada 1 Cádiz would clinch promotion to First Division with a win today. Fuenla would move into the last playoff spot--at least until Monday--with a win today. And it got even better for Cádiz--a tie would clinch promotion . . . but the result thus far in this game isn't gonna do it--Fuenla leads in the second half as Hugo Fraile converts a pk at 50'--0-1. And Cádiz goes down to defeat; Fuenla climbs, for the moment, into the last playoff spot. No fans allowed, but there are reports of huge gatherings in Cádiz waiting to celebrate their team's promotion to First Division . . . but they're still waiting after this result

[AlanK]

Today's games--Sun. 12 July

1700 Dépor 2, Extremadura 3 Dépor is three points above the drop, relatively safe as long as they don't fold. Extremadura is already condemned mathematically to drop. Extremadura beat Dépor 2-0 in the Francisco de la Hera in November. David Simón scores for Dépor at 4'--1-0. Still 1-1 at the half; Fran Cruz ties for Extremadura at 68'--1-1. Extremadura may be down, but they aren't giving up the ghost--Pinchi scores at 84' to give them the lead in Riazor--1-2. This has turned into quite a game: Dépor ties at 89', as Santos scores for 2-2; at 92', Pinchi scores his second of the evening--2-3. And Dépor has stayed three points above the drop with this loss; they could end up just even with the top of the drop if everything else goes against them today and tomorrow. NOTE: because of a player having to be attended by medics, Extremadura had only six professional players on the field for a few minutes. Apparently this could cause them to have to forfeit this game.

1930 Lugo 2, Girona 2 Big game for both teams. Lugo is the top of the drop, with the four teams immediately above them within three points. Girona is in fifth place, with a decent chance to finish even higher among the teams qualified for the playoffs. Girona won 3-1 in Montilivi in December. At 18', Iriome gives Lugo the lead--1-0. At 31', Stuani pulls Girona even with a pk--1-1. Who else but Stuani At the half: 1-1, which at the moment is enough to lift Lugo out of the drop At 72', Aday gives Girona the lead--1-2. At 96', Herrera ties for Lugo--2-2 the final--but a tie is no longer enough to keep Lugo above the drop because of the result reported below this one. Lugo is now the top of the drop, a point back of both Numancia and Oviedo; Girona stays in fifth place, back of Almería on H2H.

1930 Numancia 1, Ponferradina 0 Numancia is in 20th place; a loss today would likely see them ending up dropping. Ponfe is three points above the drop; a point or three would greatly enhance their chances of staying in LaLiga2. These two tied 1-1 in the Toralín in October. Scoreless first half in Los Pajaritos. Huge win for Numancia, thanks to a goal by Zlatanovic at 85'. Numancia is one point and two places above the drop at the close of this game.

2145 Zaragoza 2, Oviedo 4 Zaragoza has been handed direct promotion on a platter--Huesca's loss in Santander yesterday means that Zaragoza now controls their own fate in the fight for second place--Zaragoza is two points back of Huesca, so they must win their remaining games to be sure of promotion. Oviedo is two points and two places above the drop. These two tied 2-2 in the Nuevo Carlos Tartiere in September. Oviedo would be thrilled to get a tie in this game Well, Leganés had a miracle result today. Is there one in the offing for Oviedo Obeng gives Oviedo the lead at 15'--0-1. At 45', Sangalli makes it 0-2 for Oviedo. The gods must be crazy Side note: if Oviedo wins this game, or even if they tie, Cádiz wins promotion to First Division. And at 79', Yoel makes it 0-3. At 91', Ortuño makes it 0-4. Linares scores the gol del honor for Zaragoza at 94'--1-4. At 97', Kagawa makes it 2-4, and the game ends. Should Almería win tomorrow, Zaragoza will finish the jornada in fourth place.

[AlanK]

"Default day and hour" for LaLiga2 is Friday, 17 July for Jornada 41 and Monday 20 July for Jornada 42--at 2100 CEST in both cases.

Today's games, Monday 13 July

1930 Almería 3, Rayo 2 HUGE game for both. Almería is currently in fourth place, four points back of the magic second spot, which confers direct promotion. A win here would lift Almería to third place, which would give them seeding advantage in the playoffs if they finish there. Rayo came into this jornada in the last playoff spot, but they've been passed by Fuenlabrada, and if they lose today, they could also be passed by Elche and Tenerife. Rayo and Almería tied 1-1 in Vallecas away back in September. Almería has a huge first half--Lazo at 9', Darwin at 20', and Juan Muñoz at 30' give Almería a 3-0 lead at halftime. Juan Villar gets Rayo back into the game with goals at 51' and 57'--3-2. The scoring service I follow actually put 3-3 on the board a bit later, but unfortunately that goal was apparently disallowed subsequently. Almería is in third place.

1930 Sporting 2, Málaga 1 Sporting has an outside shot at a playoff spot if they can win their last three games. Málaga, two points back of Sporting, is three points and four places above the drop. These two tied 0-0 in the Rosaleda in September. Medina at 3' and Alvaro at 31' give Sporting a lead of 2-0 at the half. Málaga cuts the margin to 2-1 at 93' as Bare scores, but Sporting holds to win.

2145 Alcorcón 0, Tenerife 0 Both have aspirations in terms of a playoff spot. Tete is three points back of the last playoff spot and one point ahead of Alcor. These two tied 0-0 in the Heliodoro back in December. Scoreless first half in Santo Domingo. And it ends scoreless.

2145 Elche 2, Albacete 0 HUGE game for both. Elche has fallen two points back of the last playoff spot. El Alba is in the drop going into today's games; they're in 20th place, one point back of the lowest team not in the drop. Albacete lost to Elche 0-1 in the Carlos Belmonte back in December. Scoreless first half in the Martínez Valero. Goals by Jonathas at 52' and 98' give Elche the win, and lift them back into the last playoff spot. El Alba is back in the drop.

[AlanK]

The top and the drop after Jornada 40 is in the books--a hasty look leads me to think that all games in Jornada 41 must be played at the default day and hour as defined above--

1. Cádiz------------69 points; +49-36 Next at Girona. Congrats gaditanos--you're in First Division
2. Huesca-----------64 points; +51-42 Hosts Numancia.
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3. Almería----------63 points; +61-41 At Ponferradina.
4. Zaragoza---------62 points; +56-48 At Albacete. Can they snap out of the tailspin
5. Girona-----------60 points; +46-40 Hosts Cádiz.
6. Elche------------58 points; +49-40 At Fuenlabrada.
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7. Fuenlabrada------57 points; +43-37 Hosts Elche.
8. Rayo-------------56 points; +56-47 Hosts Las Palmas.
9. Tenerife----------55 points; +48-42 Hosts Lugo.
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16. Ponferradina------48 points; +42-47 Hosts Almería.
17. Dépor------------48 points; +41-58 At Mirandés--not out of the woods yet
18. Numancia--------47 points; +43-49 At Huesca.
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19. Lugo-------------46 points; +39-52 At Tenerife.
20. Albacete----------46 points; +31-45 Hosts Zaragoza.
21. Extremadura------40 points; +40-54 Hosts Sporting.
22. Racing-----------33 points; +38-53 At Oviedo.

[SimonB]

Fuenlabrada vs. Elche looks absolutely vital to both teams.

[AlanK]

Fuenlabrada vs. Elche looks absolutely vital to both teams.

Indeed--a tie could trash both; the winner will be a favorite to qualify for the playoffs.

Jornada 42 (the last games of 2019-2020) has Elche-Oviedo (which could also be "rather" important for Oviedo) and Dépor-Fuenla (which could be "rather" important for Dépor).