Report: Atalanta 3 Livorno 0

Simone Padoin set the Bergamasco on the way with the opening goal after 13 minutes and further strikes from Javier Chevanton and Adriano Ferreira Pinto early in the second half sealed matters.

The home side, who remain four points away from Lazio and safety, started brightly.

Uruguayan forward Chevanton, on loan from Sevilla, got away down the left and picked out Ferreira Pinto, who cut into the penalty area and his shot was deflected onto the post.

Atalanta, who host mid-table Cagliari during the week, continued to press.

Jaime Valdes crossed for Chevanton, but he took too much time which allowed the Livorno defence to clear.

The opening goal, however, finally came on 13 minutes.

Again, Chevanton was the main protagonist. His left-footed shot was brilliantly saved by Rubinho, but the Brazilian, on loan from Palermo, could do little as the ball dropped for Padoin to volley into an empty net.

The home side continued its onslaught.

After 22 minutes, Gianpaolo Bellini swung the ball into the penalty area from the left, where Nicola Amoruso got ahead of defender Dario Knezevic and flicked the ball on towards Valdes, but the Chilean just could not get there.

Rubinho was called into action again when he saved a quickly-taken free kick from Chevanton, putting the ball behind for a corner, which Livorno cleared.

During stoppage time, Valdes put the busy Chevanton away again, but he shot over. However, the effort would not have counted anyway as the assistant referee had flagged for offside.

It was more of the same at the start of the second half as the home side showed no signs of sitting back on its lead.

Thomas Manfredini met a corner from Valdes, but his header was wide.

However, on 49 minutes, the home side did make it 2-0.

Tiberio Guarente played a defence-splitting pass through to Chevanton, who this time made no mistake.

Before Livorno could recover, the match was put out of reach as Atalanta scored a third goal on 54 minutes.

Guarente was again the provider when his 30-yard free kick found its way through to Ferreira Pinto at the far post, and the Brazilian winger crashed the ball into the net.

Livorno - who have now lost 17 games, but are still only five points from safety - had no answer as Atalanta continued to come forwards in search of more goals.

The visitors resorted to knocking long balls forwards, but without really troubling Atalanta, who were content to keep possession as the hard work had already been done.

When Livorno did finally manage to set up an opening in the home side's penalty area, Nico Pulzetti tried his luck with an overhead kick, which flew wide and just about summed up the visitors' day.