In dismal form and looking at back-to-back seasons without lifting a trophy, the hosts survived an early scare when Alvaro Carreras’ hesitation allowed Angel Perez to race through, but his decision to lay it back for Lucas Boye was the wrong one.
Madrid predictably dominated the first-half play from there but created next to no chances, and were fortunate to take the lead on the half-hour mark.
Kylian Mbappe swivelled and took on a pot shot from outside the area, a gamble which paid off when it cannoned off Jonny Otto to outfox Antonio Sivera and roll inside the near post.
Adjusting to meet Jude Bellingham’s cross, Eder Militao then looped his shot against the bar, though Alaves weren’t to be outdone as Toni Martinez did the same with his flick just before half-time.
Los Blancos hadn’t shown much improvement from their previous four-match winless in the first half, but the second brought immediate improvement, and it wasn’t long before their lead was doubled.
Federico Valverde drove his side onward and played it forward to Vinicius Junior, who took Sivera by surprise with a sensational finish into the near bottom corner from distance.
The home side continued to roll, and Brahim Diaz was unfortunate not to make it three when his curling effort was headed off the line by Nahuel Tenaglia.
The visitors finally woke up after that, and Martinez had two more chances to force a nervy conclusion, first calling Andriy Lunin into action before hitting the woodwork with a diving header.
The Alaves forward did finally get his reward for a stellar display by backheeling Ander Guevara’s shot past Lunin, but it came deep into stoppage time and only served to deny Real Madrid a first clean sheet in nine LaLiga matches.
Back to winning ways for the first time in April, it may be too little, too late for Madrid, with Barcelona not likely to let up in their final seven matchdays – though the second of this season’s league Clasicos is still to come.
With just one win from their last 10 league outings and each bottom-three club having won two of their last three matches, it’s starting to look precarious for Los Albiazules, but Quique Sanchez Flores would never have banked on this one as a reliable source of points.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)