Livorno 0-1 Bologna

A solitary Marco Di Vaio goal was enough to hand Bologna all the spoils in their relegation scrap at Livorno.

Di Vaio, the club's top scorer, came to his side's aid once again, netting in the 22nd minute to hand Bologna a vital three points.

However, the visitors, who had lost Francesco Modesto to injury early on, were hit by a blow just 13 minutes later when the veteran striker was forced off injured.

Bologna's first victory in Leghorn in 70 years sees them remain in 14th spot in the Serie A standings but they are now five points above Livorno who have slipped into the relegation zone.

There was further misery for the hosts as coach Serse Cosmi was dismissed from the dugout on the hour mark for protesting.

Livorno headed into the game full of confidence despite their lowly position, having held AC Milan and Juventus to draws in their past two matches.

They almost got off to the perfect start when Mirko Piero spotted Cristian Raimondi in a great position and sent a lovely cross into the area but it was just too high for the Livorno midfielder.

Bologna were rocking and things went from bad to worse as Modesto had to be replaced by Federico Casarini in the ninth minute.

They almost found themselves immediately on the back foot but Emiliano Viviano pulled off a brilliant double save to keep the score goaless.

The Bologna goalkeeper was on hand first to keep out Dario Knezevic who had raced through on goal before unleashing a fierce 25-yard thunderbolt and then recovered well to deny Tomas Danilevicius on the rebound.

Bologna had to wait until the 15th minute for their first real chance on goal when Davide Succi's effort whistled just over the crossbar.

The visitors took the lead in the 22nd minute as a unmarked Di Vaio was in a good position at the far post to tap home Casarini's cross for his ninth goal of the season.

That gave the visitors confidence and they almost doubled their lead shortly after the half hour mark but Antonio Busce's power drive from just outside the area crashed off the left post.

There was a worrying sight for Bologna fans 10 minutes from the break when Adailton came on for the injured Di Vaio.

Livorno came out after the interval desperate to get back into the game and almost did so immediately after the restart but Viviano got just enough of a touch on it to push Claudio Bellucci's powerful drive out for a corner.

Viviano had an easier save to make in the 67th minute as he comfortably smothered former Bologna striker Davide Di Gennaro's header.

Marcelo Zalayeta could have put the result beyond doubt eight minutes from time as he attempted to finish off a good Bologna counter attack, but his effort was put round the post by Rubinho.

They were almost made to rue that missed opportunity moments before full time as Viviano could only push Di Gennaro's cross away to Luigi Vitale but his left-footed volley rose above the bar.