The opening 45 minutes were lively but, while both sides looked threatening, the end product was often lacking. Osasuna suffered an early setback when Kike Barja, one of their most dangerous attackers, was forced off injured, leaving Budimir to lead the line on his own against a side with the division’s eighth-best defence prior to kick-off.
Despite that, the hosts arguably had the best scoring chances in the first half.
David Garcia and Budimir went agonisingly close to finding the back of the net with headers, with only Antonio Sivera stops denying them. The visitors were also dealt a blow when Abdel Abqar also suffered an issue, but a valiant team effort allowed the visitors to escape unscathed from the first half.
They even hit the post in stoppage courtesy of Samu Omorodion’s close-range strike, although the opening period ultimately ended goalless.
It was more of the same after the interval. Alaves manager Luis Garcia decided to tweak his side’s approach by sending Carlos Vicente and Kike Garcia into the fray.
That, though, didn’t prevent the hosts from comfortably dominating possession, yet they clearly lacked ideas in the final third. In contrast, Babazorros El Glorioso decided to play on the counterattack and again almost broke the deadlock through Omorodion. On this occasion, however, Sergio Herrera denied him with a great save at the near post.
Fortune didn’t appear to be on Osasuna’s side, as they lost another player to injury in D. Garcia. However, all they needed was one break to go their way - and such a situation came in the 78th minute through Budimir.
The star forward took advantage of a pass from Ruben García to drill the opener beyond the helpless Sivera to give his side the lead.
Alaves pushed forward in search of an equaliser, but Osasuna held onto their lead and secured an important victory to keep their European dreams alive. As for Alavés, they remain in 13th place in the standings, and while the threat of relegation is far from overwhelming at this point, they have now not won in five and will need to improve to avoid being pulled into trouble.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ante Budimir (Osasuna)
