Bologna coach Giuseppe Papadopulo repaid the faith of his club president by presiding over his side's first win of the Serie A campaign.
Papadopulo's troops began the new season with two draws and two losses, forcing president Francesca Menarini to issue a dreaded vote of confidence to his coach on the eve of Wednesday's match with Livorno.
Goals from Daniele Portanova and skipper Marco Di Vaio in either half secured a win that will ease the pressure on Papadopulo! 's shoulders for another week at least.
The defeat for Livorno was their third in five outings since their return to the top flight, and leaves Vittorio Russo's men second-bottom of the standings on two points.
The hosts' evening got off to a miserable start when they lost midfielder Massimo Mutarelli to injury after five minutes, Gaby Mudingayi his replacement in the centre of the park.
The hosts recovered to carve out a clear opening inside the first 10 minutes when Marcelo Zalayeta played in Giacomo Tedesco but the midfielder's shot was deflected for a corner.
Antonio Candreva enjoyed the visitors' best chance of the opening period, his shot from distance after 18 minutes bringing a sprawling stop from the alert Emiliano Viviano in the Bologna goal.
Di Vaio also set his sights from distance for Bologna after 24 minutes, the striker's effort forcing Alfonso De Lucia to make a smart save.
Nicola Mingazzini's 34th-minute free-kick a! lmost brought about the breakthrough for Miguel Britos but the! defende r saw his towering header sail wide of the upright.
The opener arrived just 60 seconds later, however, Mingazzini's corner picking out Britos' central-defensive partner Portanova who made no mistake with a headed finish.
Bologna were good value for their lead and might have gone in at the break two goals to the good but Luca Vigiani's long-range effort five minutes from half-time came back off the woodwork.
The hosts effectively killed off the game as a contest after 53 minutes, last season's top scorer Di Vaio firing across the face of the keeper and into the corner after receiving the ball from Zalayeta to register his first goal of the season.
Tomas Danilevicius spurned a glorious chance to get Livorno back into the match just two minutes later when he fired over from close range while unmarked, while the striker also had an effort ruled out for offside just a minute later.
Di Vaio failed to add to his tally in a one-on-one with De Lucia! after an hour, the Livorno keeper guessing right to keep the score at 2-0.
The visitors' last chance to get back into the match came and went 12 minutes from time, Davide Marchini's teasing ball behind the Bologna backline evading both Francesco Tavano and Danilevicius to neatly sum up Livorno's frustrations in front of goal.
