Los Rojillos dominated possession early on, but struggled to break down a resolute Espanyol defence that left Benjamin Lecomte largely untroubled in between the sticks. Ez Abde took matters into his own hands with a marauding run forward and slalomed his way through the Espanyol defence, before his subsequent strike was deflected wide. Aimar Oroz was next to try his luck from distance with a shot that sailed harmlessly over the bar, summing up the hosts’ struggles going forward. In contrast, Espanyol did not register a single attempt on goal in this contest until Leandro Cabrera met Sergi Darder's free-kick with a superb glancing header that was brilliantly pushed over the bar by Aitor Fernández shortly before HT.
Arrasate's men broke the deadlock ten minutes into the second half, when Ante Budimir powered home a header after a well-worked corner was played into his path. It was the Croatian's first goal of the season and seemed to spark the hosts into life. Oroz saw his shot saved by Lecomte, before Moi Gómez's follow-up strike was blocked. Chimy Ávila then replaced goalscorer Budimir and the Argentine almost doubled Osasuna's lead, only to see his header tipped over by Espanyol’s French shot-stopper.
The game was a much-improved spectacle after the break, as Fernández made a fine save to prevent Joselu from levelling the scores after the former Newcastle United man slid the ball goalwards. The hosts held on however, to secure three well-deserved points that stopped a concerning slide in form, while Espanyol dropped down one place into 16th after their three-match unbeaten run came to an end.
