Christian Santos converted a second half penalty as Alaves edged past relegation strugglers 1-0 Osasuna at El Sadar.
The Venezuelan striker had yet to open his Primera Division account when he stepped up in the 77th minute - but he beat Nauzet Perez from the spot to seal the points.
For Osasuna it was another disappointing result that leaves them second bottom in the table with just seven points, while the visitors successfully moved on from successive defeats against Real Sociedad and Real Madrid.
Alaves began stronger, Gaizka Toquero denied by Perez after being teed up by Theo Hernandez inside two minutes.
Toquero was the liveliest presence on the pitch in the first 20 minutes but Osasuna held out and returned fire through Kenan Kedro and Roberto Torres before Sergio Leon's effort was cleared off the line by Toquero.
That was as close as either side came before half-time and Los Rojillos were almost there in the 48th minute too, Fernando Pacheco saving well from Kenan's header.
The game began to become disjointed, as yellow cards and substitutions affected the momentum but that changed when Hernandez won the spot-kick with 13 minutes remaining.
Santos stepped up and slotted home for his first La Liga strike in his seventh outing.
Osasuna did what they could to get back into the game, Torres drawing another save from Pacheco and Oier Sanjurjo making a flimsy appeal for a penalty in the last minute but there was nothing to be salvaged.