Tenerife boosted their hopes of survival with three points at home to Espanyol as the Catalans' poor away form continued.

Richi gave the Canary Islanders the lead after 20 minutes and Nino doubled the home side's lead early in the second half.

Espanyol got back into the game through Joan Verdu 20 minutes from time, but Alejandro Alfaro and Nino later rounded off a deserved victory for Jose Luis Oltra's in the closing stages.

Tenerife had won just five league matches all season and started the day in 19th place.

All of those five wins had come at the Heliodoro, though, and the promoted side must have fancied their chances against an Espanyol side struggling for form on the road.

The Barcelona-based side had failed to win away from home since the third round of the championship and had scored just five times on the road all season prior to this game.

That miserable run in front of goal - the worst of any side in the league - and the absence through injury of striker Jose Callejon, led to a surprise recall for Espanyol idol Raul Tamudo, who has been frozen out for the last three months following an unseemly contract wrangle with the club.

Tamudo was named on the bench for this clash as Dani Osvaldo and Ivan Alonso got the nod in attack for the Catalans.

But those two saw little of the ball early on as Tenerife started brightest.

The home side created the first real chance of note after nine minutes, but Ayoze Garcia's venomous left-footed drive was well saved by Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni.

Kameni then saved well from Alfaro as the locals threatened once more.

And it was no surprise when they took the lead after 20 minutes, when Richi's drive from the edge of the box deflected off Moises Hurtado and left Kameni wrong-footed on its way into the back of the net.

Kameni produced a smart save to deny Richi a second 10 minutes later as Tenerife continued to press.

Espanyol's strikers were feeding off scraps, though, and other than an Osvaldo snapshot after 32 minutes, the visitors created next to nothing.

Tenerife started the second half as they had the first and duly went two up after 49 minutes, when Nino latched onto a careless Verdu pass and ran through to slot home and give his side the luxury of a two-goal cushion.

Verdu went some way to making amends as he pulled a goal back with a fantastic finish with 20 minutes left, but Tenerife were too strong and deservedly ran out winners in the closing stages.

Alfaro poached the third from close-range after Roman Martinez, on loan from Espanyol, had flicked the ball on from a corner.

And with Espanyol stretched at the death, Nino found himself one-on-one with Kameni and made no mistake, sending the fans home happy and believing that another year in the top-flight may yet be possible.

Tenerife are now just three points behind 17th-placed Zaragoza, while Espanyol are just five points better off than the Canary Islanders and will be looking anxiously over their shoulders.