Alavés 0 - Osasuna 2

Alavés: Herrera; Geli, Coloccini, Karmona, Llorens; Astudillo, Pablo; Magno (Vucko 60'), Jordi Cruyff, Ibon Begoña (Turiel 60'); Iván Alonso (Rubén Navarro 72'). 4-2-3-1.
Osasuna: Unzué; Cruchaga, Jusué, Josetxo; Izquierdo, Puñal, Fernando; Palacios, Alfredo (Rivero 65'), Gancedo (Lekumberri 84'); Aloisi (Armentano 91'). 3-3-3-1.

Team changes: Alavés: Geli, Karmona, Ibon Begoña, Iván Alonso for Kanu, Téllez, Turiel, Rubén Navarro / Osasuna: Jusué, Puñal, Alfredo for Contreras, Lekumberri, Armentano.

Goals:
0-1. 51. Palacios. Headed down past Herrera after Fernando crossed in from left.
0-2. 69. Jusué. Placed header wide of keeper following corner from right.

With a game in hand, Alavés started the day with a chance to finish as winter champions for the first time in their history. To do so though, they had to win this game and the postponed match at Rayo Vallecano, which has been set provisionally for 23rd January. However they fell at the first hurdle, losing to Basque neighbours Osasuna in one of their worst performances of the season. The Vitoria side started well, with Unzué saving confidently from a Llorens free kick, but after that they faded quickly, handing over control to the visitors. The return of Puñal and Alfredo to Lotina's starting line up gave his side more strength in the middle of the park, and with ex Deportivo midfielder Fernando in sparkling form down the left wing they created several chances. Ten minutes before half time thay appeared to get their reward when Aloisi got the ball in the net, but after what seemed like an age, referee Esquinas Torres disallowed the goal as Josetxo had knocked the ball on with his hand.

It did not take the visitors long though after the restart to wrap things up, Palacios heading Fernando's cross past a shaky Herrera to open the scoring. Under-21 international Jusué, totally unmarked, made it two a few minutes later from a corner, and Osasuna were on their way to their first away win in three months. Mané had left out Rubén Navarro from the starting line up after he had been fined and banned by police for drunken driving, but he was forced to bring him on for the last twenty minutes as the game slipped out of his reach. However Unzué kept the young striker out with a point blank save in the last minute to keep his clean sheet and take his side clear of the relegation spots for now. The victory also helped them take their minds off the false bank guarantee scandal, which had been headline news all week. Alavés's second home defeat in a row means that they drop to eighth, although with only five points separating them from leaders Real Madrid as the first half of the season comes to an end, there is still time for them to come back.