The Brazilian bring AC Milan ascend to the third position of Serie after centre back Thiago Silva scored for both sides on Sunday as the Rossoneri climbed to third in Serie A with a 2-1 win at troubled Lazio.Thiago Silva nodded in an Andrea Pirlo free kick from the left to put Milan ahead in the 22nd minute with his maiden Serie A goal.
His compatriot Pato also used his head to good effect to put away a Ronaldinho cross and make it 2-0 10 minutes before the break before Silva unluckily deflected a Mauro Zarate shot into his own net in the 65th minute to set up a nervy climax.
AC Milan held out under pressure to continue their recovery from a shaky start with a win that gives them 22 points from 12 games. They are two points behind second-placed Juventus.
Samuel Eto'o earned leaders Inter Milan a 1-1 draw with AS Roma at the San Siro. The Cameroon forward controlled a Thiago Motta pass, spun around and drove home a diagonal strike just after the break to cancel out Mirko Vucinic's first-half goal.
Inter coach Jose Mourinho had said former title challengers Roma were dangerous despite being in the lower half of the table and missing injured players such as captain Francesco Totti.
He was proved right in the 13th minute when Montenegro striker Vucinic put the visitors in front with a looping header to make amends after his dithering had allowed Inter's defence to recover when he was clean through soon after kickoff.
Inter had keeper Julio Cesar to thank for keeping them on level terms after Eto'o's goal when he produced a fine save to repel a powerful Jeremy Menez shot after the hour mark.
Lazio coach Davide Ballardini is now in serious danger of losing his job as his side have not won in the league since August and were hammered 4-1 at Villarreal in the Europa League on Thursday.
AC Milan leapfrogged Sampdoria, who lost 2-0 at Cagliari after having Marius Stankevicius sent off for a foul at the end of the first half.
Samp share fourth place with Fiorentina after the Tuscan team beat Udinese 1-0 away thanks to Juan Vargas's free kick six minutes from time.
