Rio De Janeiro, Sept. 1 -- 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.
Nuno Moreira fired the visitor ahead in the eighth minute before Lucas Lima converted a 25th-minute penalty on Sunday.
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...