Ivan Alonso's brace made up for Raul Tamudo's absence to give Espanyol a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Tenerife.

Tamudo is back from injury but was left out of the squad following an unseemly contract wrangle with the Catalan club this week.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino admitted that the striker - Espanyol's all-time top goalscorer - may never play for the club again and opted to cut the player from his matchday squad to avoid unrest.

That meant a start up front for Alonso and the Uruguayan responded by hitting both goals - one in each half - either side of Alejandro Alfaro's leveller.

Espanyol came into their fourth game at Cornella having won one, lost one and drawn one at their new stadium since switching from Montjuic in the summer.

Tenerife, meanwhile, were without a point on the road since returning to the Primera Division and were on the back foot from the outset.

The home side created the first chance after just two minutes, but Moises Hurtado blazed his effort over the bar.

Alonso then tested Sergio Aragoneses with a fierce effort which the Tenerife keeper saved superbly.

It would not have counted anyway as the offside flag was up but the striker had better luck three minutes later.

Alonso latched onto Jose Callejon's deep pass and coolly slotted the ball under Aragoneses to give the home side an early advantage.

It lasted just four minutes, however, as Tenerife quickly hit back.

There appeared little danger as Alfaro shaped to shoot from distance, but Espanyol keeper Carlos Kameni made a mess of his attempted save and the ball found its way into the back of the net.

Espanyol took a while to rediscover their rhythm following that blow, but piled on the pressure in the lead-up to half-time.

And Tenerife had their goalkeeper - and the woodwork - to thank as they went in on level terms at the interval.

Aragoneses produced a marvellous reaction save to keep out Callejon's header and then reacted superbly once again five minutes before the break to parry Alonso's fierce drive.

And on the stroke of half-time, Nico Pareja's free-kick rattled the woodwork as Espanyol looked for a psychological boost before the break.

Alfaro twice came close at the beginning of the second half, but was just off target with a smart volley and was then denied by Kameni.

And the visitors were made to rue those misses as Espanyol retook the lead on the hour.

Fernando Marques escaped down the flank and squared for the unmarked Alonso, who finished easily from close range.

This time they kept hold of it with relative ease and could even have gone further ahead through Joan Verdu late on.

Nevertheless, it was a third win of the season for Pochettino's men, who are now unbeaten in five matches since losing their first two games of the season.

That run has seen them move off the bottom of the table and up to seventh, while Tenerife drop to 16th.