Segunda Roundup, Jornada 33: Alcorcón drop back, other contenders win

Jornada 33 brought some clarity to the playoff picture in the Segunda División as sixth-placed Las Palmas defeated seventh-placed Ponferradina 1-0 with a late goal from Thievy. With this win, the islanders are five points ahead of Ponfe, and with Cordoba and Sporting also losing, have opened up a five-point gap between themselves and seventh place.

Villarreal thumped Numancia 6-1 (see our recap here), and Girona continued to pound in the goals as well, with a 5-2 victory over Real Murcia. If you followed our forum during the week you'll remember an excellent analysis of Murcia's disciplinary difficulties, and sure enough, these surfaced this week too. Francisco Molinero got two yellow cards in fourteen minutes to put the Paprika Men down a man, Girona scored two penalties in the first half-hour, and though Javier Matilla pulled a goal back, two Acuña strikes gave the home side a comfortable win.

Almeria defeated Recre 2-1, with the visitors here also going down a man, Dimas getting a straight red 27 minutes in; referee Ricardo de Burgos handed out 10 yellow cards in all. Charles scored his nineteenth for the home side along with Aleix Vidal, and though Recre's Ruymán pulled a goal back, the hosts held on for the win.

The shock result of the round had to be Alcorcón's home loss to Racing Santander. Hector Justé scored the only goal of the match in the 19th minute, and this result drops Pepe Bordalás's men down to fifth in the table, with just two points (and two goals) in their last three matches. Keep in mind, too-- Oriol Riera has exactly a third of Alcorcon's goals, and he'll be suspended with his next yellow card.

Meanwhile, at the bottom, Guadalajara opened up a six-point gap between themselves and their nearest pursuers with a 3-1 defeat of Cordoba. Three goals in ten minutes either side of halftime probably ended the promotion challenge of the califas; they are now seven points behind Las Palmas and have exactly one away win in 2013.

A wild match in Sabadell may have brought the end of any promotion hopes for Sporting Gijón, who could have moved up to seventh with a win. The home side scored two goals in the first seven minutes, led 3-2 at halftime, and even though their Mexican striker Anibal Zurdo was sent off midway through the second half, they were able to hold on for a 4-3 win. José Sandoval's men have a favorable schedule in their last nine games, but needing to make up eight points on the sixth-placed club is probably too much at this point.

Other results:

Barcelona B 1-1 Mirandés

Elche 0-0 Lugo

Xerez 0-0 Herculés

Real Madrid Castilla 5-1 Huesca