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| Ronaldinho strokes home his penalty [AFP] |
Ronaldinho said he was happy to be back on shift for AC Milan as the rossoneri summed up their inconsistent season with a 4-3 Serie A win over Cagliari at the San Siro.
The result briefly put Leonardo's side in second place in Italy before Juventus beat Udinese in the late match.
Elsewhere, Francesco Totti scored a hat-trick on his return for Roma as they romped to a 3-1 win over Bari.
Clarence Seedorf gave the hosts an early lead at the San Siro after some superb passing but the Sardinians were ahead on the half-hour after Alessandro Matri and Andrea Lazzari exposed a static defence badly missing the suspended Alessandro Nesta.
More good attacking play pulled Milan back into the match with Marco Borriello heading in and Ronaldinho then setting up Alexandre Pato to fire home late in a frantic first half.
The often inconsistent Ronaldinho, who looked refreshed following the international break, slammed in a penalty in the second half to crown another improved display but Milan's nerves were fraught in the closing stages after Nene made it 4-3.
'Return to work'
"I've returned to work and felt good. Let's hope I can get a few more goals and we can continue like this," the Brazilian told Sky television.
Leaders Inter Milan, who have a seven-point advantage over their city rivals after 13 games, won 3-1 at Bologna on Saturday as they chase a fifth straight scudetto.
In Rome, Totti marked his return from almost two months out with a recurring knee injury by scoring a powerful hat-trick in Roma's 3-1 win over Bari on Sunday.
The striker, who has retired from Italy duty but has hinted he would consider a return at the World Cup, netted a spot kick before blasting home a free kick and then slamming in from a tight angle all inside the first half-hour.
The win was the perfect tonic for mid-table Roma, whose future ownership remains unclear amid debts and fan unrest.
Grosso pop-up
Juve overcame Udinese 1-0 in a cold Turin in Sunday's late game after Fabio Grosso popped up in the area to guide in fellow fullback Martin Caceres's cross early in the second period.
The hosts, who brought on Alessandro Del Piero for only his second appearance of the campaign after injury, continued their habit of failing to find a killer second goal and were lucky that Udinese were blunted by Antonio Di Natale's suspension.
Walter Zenga's Palermo drew 1-1 at home with his former club Catania in the Sicilian derby and early pacesetters Sampdoria beat Chievo 2-1 in Genoa for their first win in four games.
Napoli drew 0-0 at home with Lazio while at the bottom Siena are three adrift after a 2-0 home defeat by Atalanta which prompted supporter protests and further weakened the position of interim coach Marco Baroni.
Lowly Livorno grabbed a very late winner to beat Genoa 2-1.
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