Osasuna have climbed out of the relegation zone in the Primera Division by securing a narrow 1-0 victory over Espanyol at the El Sadar Stadium.
Alvaro Cejudo's 33th-minute strike proved enough for Javi Garcia's men to kick-start the calendar year by increasing the possibility of retaining their top-flight status, with Los Rojillos now sitting 15th in the standings.
It was the Catalan side who started much the better of two teams in Pamplona and Javier Aguirre's troops could have gone ahead inside six minutes when Sergio Garcia fired wide of the mark from a good angle.
The hosts had goalkeeper Andres Fernandez to thank for maintaining parity in the scoreline after tipping David Lopez's goal-bound effort past the post.
However, the visitors ultimately paid the penalty for their profligacy, as Cejudo curled beyond keeper Kiko Casilla to edge his team ahead in the contest.
Espanyol had to wait 17 minutes into the second half before receiving another opportunity to make amends for previous misses, but Jhon Cordoba exacerbated his team's woes in front of goal by thrashing wide of the target following a neat ball from Garcia.
Soon came the turn of Christian Stuani in attempting to restore parity, but Fernandez was equal to the Uruguayan's effort.
There was late drama when the ball appeared to strike the hand of Oier Sanjurjo in the Osasuna box, but the referee dismissed the penalty claims and the hosts held on for a valuable victory in their fight against relegation.
Shane Callaghan
