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Soccer-Pato scores again, angles for Europe return

By Andrew Downie SAO PAULO, July 26 (Reuters) - Alexandre Pato scored Sao Paulo's winner against champions Cruzeiro on Sunday and said he hopes his good run of form will win him a transfer back to Europe. The former AC Milan striker has scored four goals in his last four games at loan club Sao Paulo and says he has unfinished business in Europe. "What I did there isn't over, I want to go back and play in Europe," he told reporters after Sao Paulo's 1-0 win. The comments came after he was quoted in Spanish newspaper Marca saying he wanted to return to Europe, where he played five years with Milan, before the end of this year. Corinthians would love to recoup some of the 15 million euros ($16.50 million) they shelled out for the player in 2013. Pato never settled at Corinthians and was loaned to city rivals Sao Paulo last year. Pato got his team's winner just before half time on Sunday, setting them up for a big game with league leaders Atletico Mineiro on Wednesday. Atletico beat Figueirense 1-0 on Sunday to record their seventh win in eight games. "Today was very important game to give us confidence for the game on Wednesday," Pato told reporters. "They are the team to beat but it's not impossible. We'll work, rest a few days and see if we can win three more points." Sao Paulo's city rivals Palmeiras kept up their good run with a 4-1 win at Vasco that lifted them into third, just behind Corinthians, who drew 1-1 at second-bottom Coritiba. Vasco and Goias make up the bottom four relegation spots. In the weekend's other games, Atletico Paranaense won 2-1 at Avai, Gremio held Sport to a 1-1 draw and Santos got just their fourth win of the season, 2-0 over bottom club Joinville. Ponte Preta and Internacional shared the points in a scoreless draw, Chapecoense beat Fluminense 2-1 and Flamengo won their fourth away match in a row when they defeated Goias 1-0. ($1 = 0.9093 euros) (Reporting by Andrew Downie; Editing by Peter Rutherford)