AC Milan picked up a much-needed win over struggling Cagliari, triumphing 3-1 at the San Siro to relieve some of the pressure on coach Filippo Inzaghi.
Two goals from Jeremy Menez, the second coming from the penalty spot, and a Philippe Mexes strike earned the Rossoneri only their second win since the start of February, and first in their last four.
Diego Farias scored the consolation for Cagliari, who remain inside the bottom three and potentially seven points from safety with eight games of the season remaining.
Marco Sau could have written a different script had he taken Cagliari's first chance after six minutes, but he missed the target with the few fans in attendance at the San Siro breathing a sigh of relief.
The Sardinians were clearly not in the mood just to roll over and let Milan beat them, although they fell behind in the 21st minute when Menez got his first sight of goal and made the most of it with a stunning effort.
The goal gave Milan confidence and they appeared to be in total control of the game leading into the second half.
However, as has so often been the case of late, they let their lead slip early in the second half with Farias skipping past Mexes before beating Diego Lopez.
Mexes soon made up for his mistake on that goal by restoring Milan's lead within minutes, volleying past Zeljko Brkic from a corner.
Cagliari went close to equalising once again in the 75th minute when Joao Pedro struck the post with his shot on the turn.
Less than 60 seconds later, Milan had a penalty when Alessio Cerci was fouled by Luca Ceppitelli.
The foul appeared to have been outside the area, but the referee pointed to the spot and Menez accepted the gift to get his second and Milan's third.
It effectively killed Cagliari off and Milan held their lead comfortably, going close to adding a fourth through Giampaolo Pazzini and Cerci, but Brkic denied both in one-on-one situations.