RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Philippe Coutinho scored his third goal in four matches as Vasco da Gama edged to a 3-2 away win over Sport Recife in Brazil's Serie A on Sunday.

Nuno Moreira fired the visitor ahead in the eighth minute before Lucas Lima converted a 25th-minute penalty.

Former Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern Munich midfielder Coutinho restored Vasco's lead on the stroke of halftime by side-footing home after Moreira's cross.

Argentine striker Pablo Vegetti made it 3-1 with a 49th-minute penalty before Ramon Menezes reduced the deficit late by nodding home after Lima's corner.

Vasco is now 15th in the 20-team standings with 22 points, 12 ahead of last-placed Sport.

"We really needed three points and even though we didn't play the way we wanted, we were able to get what we came here for," Vegetti said after the match.

"We struggled a bit at the end of the game and we have to be smarter about that. It was a very even contest but we did the little things right and that was enough to win."

Elsewhere on Sunday, Santos was held to a goalless home draw by Fluminense, Gremio drew 1-1 at Flamengo, Corinthians was held to a 1-1 home draw by Palmeiras, Mirassol romped to a 5-1 home win against Bahia, Vitoria won 1-0 at home against Atletico Mineiro, and Internacional clinched a 2-1 home win over Fortaleza. ■