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Milan came from a goal down as Ronaldinho starred in a 2-1 Serie A win over Roma at the San Siro.

The Brazilian playmaker scored a penalty and created Alexandre Pato's winner as the Rossoneri overcame Jeremy Menez's early goal to hand Claudio Ranieri his first defeat in charge of the capital club.

Menez capitalised on a defensive error to put the visitors ahead but an inspired second-half performance from Milan helped them leapfrog Roma into the top half of the table.

With new coach Leonardo, Milan have been struggling in lower-mid table and they got off to a dreadful start when Thiago Silva, returning from injury, fluffed a straightforward clearance to let Menez in to finish under Dida.

That was three minutes in and 60 seconds later it could have been 2-0 but Frenchman Menez was denied a penalty when clearly pulled back by the hapless Thiago.

The Rossoneri woke up and switched to a possession game, with Roma content to sit deep and wait for the break.

Pato, however, was a touch isolated with forward partner Ronaldinho tending to drift wide and deep, and Roma had the next chance when Daniele De Rossi forced a smart stop from Dida with a low drive from the edge of the box.

The hosts had a few half chances just after the hour mark, with Andrea Pirlo firing well over after Ronaldinho sparked a scramble on the edge of the box.

But Roma were dangerous on the break, with Dida on hand to deny Mirko Vucinic after he was played in on the right.

Milan came agonisingly close to levelling six minutes before the break but Clarence Seedorf's finish was equalled by an excellent save by Doni, who tipped the Dutchman's goal-bound effort on to the post.

The second half was a different affair, with Milan dominating from the outset thanks in part to the introduction of half-time substitute Filippo Inzaghi, whose clever movement gave Pato and Ronaldinho more space to manoeuvre..

The veteran striker had a header cleared off the line by David Pizarro while Philippe Mexes and Nicolas Burdisso worked extremely hard to keep what was now a triple-pronged attack at bay.

It was Burdisso who handed the Rossoneri a chance to equalise, when he slid in clumsily on Alessandro Nesta to give away a penalty, which Ronaldinho converted low to the left on 57 minutes.

There was a brief scare for the hosts when Dida made a mess of dealing with a straightforward John Arne-Riise free-kick, but no-one was on hand to convert the loose ball.

Seedorf missed a great chance to put his side in front but scooped wide after Pato found him unmarked, but Milan finally did take the lead after a brilliant combination between their Brazil duo on 68 minutes.

Ronaldinho swung a superb cross-field pass from the left that Pato took on his chest to round Riise before beating Doni and sliding the ball into the empty net.

Roma sprung back into life and had two good chances to level.

On 72 minutes Simone Perrotta shot low on goal and Menez just failed to reach Dida's near-post block, while five minutes later De Rossi somehow fired over after sub Stefano Okaka's knock-down left him unmarked at close range.

Milan's nerves were frayed further when skipper Massimo Ambrosini was shown a second yellow card, forcing them to play with 10 men for the last nine minutes plus stoppage time.

It was their night though as they battled to hold on to the win that moves them from 14th to ninth, behind Bari on goal difference. Roma slip to 11th.

Reda MAHER / Eurosport