Ascoli's Serie A fate was finally sealed with a single-goal defeat at Torino, who edged two points clear of the drop zone.
After two troubled seasons in the top-flight of Italian football, Nedo Sonetti's side drop back down to Serie B along with Messina, after their relegation was finally mathematically confirmed.
The win could prove crucial for Torino who move up to 14th place on 36 points, although it is still realistic that any of the sides in the bottom half of the league could fall into the third and final relegation place, with just three games remaining.
The home side were allowed to control a dour encounter despite showing little sign of true quality themselves, with the majority of their first-half chances resulting from set-plays.
Roberto Muzzi tried his luck from a long-range free-kick in the seventh minute but sent it crashing into the Ascoli wall.
And minutes later, midfielder Andrea Ardito's snap-shot flew embarrassingly high and wide.
But a breakthrough did come in the 18th minute when Roberto Stellone and Muzzi combined well and Stellone provided Alessandro Rosina with the perfect pass, leaving the Torino number 10 with the simplest of chances to slot coolly past Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos.
The second half followed much the same format as the first, and when Fabio Gallo crossed for Roberto Stellone, the striker's header flew wide.
Eleftheropoulos had to be on guard in the 55th minute to save Alessandro Rosina's powerful shot with his fists and he intervened successfully again to deny Stellone's tidy effort.
And the lively Rosina posed yet more questions of a shaky Ascoli back-line when his darting run forward won him a free-kick, which he took himself, and arrowed just marginally over the crossbar.
Ascoli substitute Andrea Soncin provided the visitors a glimmer of hope with his 68th-minute appearance, but when he did threaten the Ascoli goal he was well beaten down by goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.
Rosina nearly doubled his tally for the afternoon with 15 minutes of the game remaining, but he watched on as Eleftheropoulos puled off a miraculous fingertip save to keep the lead down to a solitary goal.
The defeat sees Ascoli return to the second-tier, having managed to register just 21 points from the 35 games they have played so far.
They won only three games all season, including just one success on home soil.
The win could prove crucial for Torino who move up to 14th place on 36 points, although it is still realistic that any of the sides in the bottom half of the league could fall into the third and final relegation place, with just three games remaining.
The home side were allowed to control a dour encounter despite showing little sign of true quality themselves, with the majority of their first-half chances resulting from set-plays.
Roberto Muzzi tried his luck from a long-range free-kick in the seventh minute but sent it crashing into the Ascoli wall.
And minutes later, midfielder Andrea Ardito's snap-shot flew embarrassingly high and wide.
But a breakthrough did come in the 18th minute when Roberto Stellone and Muzzi combined well and Stellone provided Alessandro Rosina with the perfect pass, leaving the Torino number 10 with the simplest of chances to slot coolly past Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos.
The second half followed much the same format as the first, and when Fabio Gallo crossed for Roberto Stellone, the striker's header flew wide.
Eleftheropoulos had to be on guard in the 55th minute to save Alessandro Rosina's powerful shot with his fists and he intervened successfully again to deny Stellone's tidy effort.
And the lively Rosina posed yet more questions of a shaky Ascoli back-line when his darting run forward won him a free-kick, which he took himself, and arrowed just marginally over the crossbar.
Ascoli substitute Andrea Soncin provided the visitors a glimmer of hope with his 68th-minute appearance, but when he did threaten the Ascoli goal he was well beaten down by goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.
Rosina nearly doubled his tally for the afternoon with 15 minutes of the game remaining, but he watched on as Eleftheropoulos puled off a miraculous fingertip save to keep the lead down to a solitary goal.
The defeat sees Ascoli return to the second-tier, having managed to register just 21 points from the 35 games they have played so far.
They won only three games all season, including just one success on home soil.
Copyright (c) Press Association
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