Hopeful of breaking a streak of four consecutive draws in the league, the hosts had to be patient as Bologna dominated the early proceedings with Riccardo Orsolini looking lively on the right side of the attack.
Despite that, Ionut Radu had little to do, and Venezia slowly started to grow into the game. Alessio Zerbin had the first real sight of goal in the game as a loose ball fell to him in the box, but he saw his initial effort and the attempted follow-up blocked by some dogged defending.
Zerbin then attempted to turn provider as Jay Idzes met his deep free kick, but he was off balance as he made contact and couldn’t steer his header on target.
That miss almost proved costly as the away side had their best chance of the half immediately after when Sam Beukema found himself unmarked at a corner, but he couldn’t get over the ball, and he headed high over the bar to complete a scoreless first half.
After a quiet first half, the visitors burst into life quickly after half-time, finding the opening goal on 49 minutes.
Nicolo Cambiaghi may be credited with the assist, but it was all about Orsolini as he took a deep cross first-time on the volley, cushioning a terrific side-footed effort back across Radu into the top corner.
Eusebio Di Francesco responded after the hour mark with four changes, and they almost had the desired impact, but Gianluca Busio curled wide before John Yeboah’s dinked effort was denied by Lukasz Skorupski after the Ecuadorian striker ran through on goal.
The away side managed to ride the storm and looked the stronger side in the final moments, eventually holding on for the 1-0 victory.
The three points help to keep Bologna’s slim title hopes alive as they remain in fourth but close the gap to eight points behind Inter Milan.
At the other end of the table, the situation is starting to become more desperate for Venezia as they remain in 19th but sit five points adrift of safety, having also played a game more than those above them.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna)