Espnstar - Osasuna's chances of Primera Liga survival were dealt a huge blow when they went down to fellow strugglers Sporting Gijon.
David Barral and Diego Castro fired the visitors into a surprise two-goal lead early on, and although Javad Nekounam reduced the deficit from the penalty spot shortly afterwards, Osasuna were unable to find a way back into the game and are now three points from safety with just 12 rounds of the championship still to play.
Osasuna began the day in 18th position, but had been on good form before this match.
Jose Antonio Camacho's side were unbeaten in their last five league matches, having won three of those and drawn the other two.
By contrast, Sporting appeared to be on the slide after losing their last four games.
Three of those games were against top four sides Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villarreal, though, and the promoted side must have been glad to get those fixtures out of the way.
In this match, Osasuna began brightly and came close to breaking the deadlock twice in the opening minutes.
But Sporting weathered the early pressure and took the lead themselves after just seven minutes, when Borral fired home an unstoppable volley from Carmelo Gonzalez's cross.
And Castro then blasted home a brilliant second from distance after 18 minutes.
Osasuna looked to be back in it 10 minutes later, though, when they won a penalty after Ivan Hernandez handled in the area.
Nekounam converted the spot-kick but the home side created little of note in the remainder of the first half.
After the break, Barral had the ball in the net for a second time, but his effort was ruled out for a foul on Cesar Cruchaga.
And the visitors continued to look the better side against a subdued Osasuna outfit.
Luis Moran almost added a third for Sporting after 67 minutes, but Roberto Fernandez produced a fine save to keep his side in the game.
Osasuna huffed and puffed late on, but apart from a couple of dangerous corners in the closing stages, the home side never looked likely to break Sporting's brave resistance.
The visitors held on for a first win since early February, and it was fully deserved against an Osasuna team worryingly short of their best.
Their misery was compounded as closest rivals Mallorca (in 17th) came back from three goals down to earn an incredible draw at home to Real Betis.
Sporting, meanwhile, move up to 13th place and are now five points clear of Osasuna.
