A hat-trick from Filippo Inzaghi inspired AC Milan to a comfortable win over Atalanta to ease some of the pressure on coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Inzaghi struck in the seventh, 70th and 74th minutes to cement Milan's third position in Serie A and reduce the deficit to league leaders Inter Milan back to 12 points.
David Beckham shone on the day his stay with Milan until the end of the season was confirmed and he received a standing ovation as he left the field seconds before full-time.
Beckham appeared more focused than ever with the uncertainty surrounding his future now lifted with today's announcement he will be remaining with AC Milan until June 30.
He was involved in the build-up to the opening goal after seven minutes, exchanging intelligent passes with Andrea Pirlo before Mathieu Flamini's deflected shot found its way through to Marek Jankulovski just to the left of goal.
Jankulovski delivered the ball low to Inzaghi, who made no mistake from close range.
Another fine touch from Beckham drew widespread applause from the 54,645 fans inside the San Siro in the 11th minute as he set Alexandre Pato away, but the Brazilian could not find the finish.
Yet again, the England international provided a chance for Inzaghi in the 16th minute with a flick which was met by the Rossoneri striker in an offside position.
The fans were warming to Beckham as they have done since he arrived in January.
His long, sweeping ball to send Pato in deep almost prompted a standing ovation in the 19th minute. Pato's subsequent shot over the crossbar from an angle drew more of a disappointed groan.
Jankulovski and Inzaghi missed two further chances to score from Beckham assists.
AC Milan were showing a wastefulness in front of goal typical of their whole season, and they ran the risk of throwing all their good work away again as Atalanta grew in confidence with Gianvito Plasmati missing a series of chances.
Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati made three excellent saves to deny the Nerazzurri forward in the latter stages of the first half while his stop from a Tiberio Guarante shot ensured the home side went in at the break narrowly ahead.
Despite an early effort from Pato, the second half started with Atalanta in the ascendancy.
They came close to equalizing when Ferreira Pinto took the ball past Gianluca Zambrotta before pulling his shot across the face of goal
However, Inzaghi released Milan's tension with his second and third goals in the space of five minutes.
Pato created his second in the 70th minute, lifting the ball over the Atalanta defence to Inzaghi, who just managed to beat Atalanta goalkeeper Andrea Consigli to the ball before tapping it into the empty net.
Zambrotta set up the third moments later after playing a neat one-two with Jankulovski to give Inzaghi the easiest of tap-ins to complete his hat-trick.
Both Inzaghi and Beckham were given standing ovations as they were withdrawn from the field before full-time having made a decisive contribution to getting Milan's season back on track.
