A Mauro Zarate brace helped Lazio to an easy win over Bologna, their first at the Stadio Olimpico since December.

The Argentinian was understandably delighted to find the back of the net again, having not scored since mid-December.

The victory pushes Lazio into seventh spot ahead of the rest of the weekend's fixtures, putting them firmly in the hunt for a Europa League berth, while Bologna remain a point above the relegation zone and could find themselves in the bottom three tomorrow night.

Bologna had collected just one point in their previous four matches and were desperate for the points in the Italian capital.

They started brightly and could have taken the lead in the 13th minute but Miguel Britos headed Sergio Volpi's free-kick wide of the target.

Zarate came close to scoring in the 24th minute with a low effort from the edge of the box which Bologna goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli did well to stop.

The visitors almost took a surprise lead in the 33rd minute as Francesco Valiani picked out Diego Rodriguez in the area with a lovely cross but he could only head straight into the arms of Lazio goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.

They were made to rue that missed opportunity as three minutes later Lazio took the lead when Zarate fired a free-kick past a static Antonioli.

Bologna came close to levelling matters six minutes from half-time as Marco Di Vaio threaded in a through ball for Rodriguez but Lazio defender Sanchez Cribari deflected his effort out for a corner.

Rossoblu coach Sinisa Mihajlovic rung the changes at the break, bringing on Massimo Marazzina and Massimo Mutarelli for Valiani and Rodriguez.

It was to little effect as Lazio enjoyed a series of good chances.

Cristian Brocchi raced onto Zarate's through-ball but was stopped by a last-ditch tackle just as he was about to shoot.

Zarate came close to doubling his tally on the hour mark as a brilliant individual move saw him race towards goal on the counter-attack but his effort was deflected for a corner.

The Argentinian had another opportunity 10 minutes later as he stormed into the Bologna box before his run was stopped by Volpi.

Zarate did get his second nine minutes from time, finishing off a perfect pass from Tommaso Rocchi - who had come off the bench for Goran Pandev minutes earlier - with a delightfully clever touch.

Bologna had the chance to pull one back two minutes from time as Di Vaio beat the offside trap but Muslera raced off his line to smother the shot.