Espanyol moved out of the Primera Division drop zone following a hard-earned victory over rock-bottom Deportivo La Coruna.
Former Portugal international Simao Sabrosa headed home just after the half hour in a match where the losers would have the unwanted position of going into the two-week winter break at the foot of the table.
In the closing stages, substitute Christian Stuani sealed the three points which moved Javier Aguirre’s men into 16th place although they could find themselves back in the bottom three by Saturday.
Both teams came into tonight on the back of seven-match winless runs in the league and cup and were locked together on 12 points.
Yet the hosts had shown some signs of recovery in recent weeks, drawing their last three matches under new coach Javier Aguirre, including an encouraging 2-2 draw at Real Madrid last time out.