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Ronaldinho scored with a header off a perfect setup from Kaka in the 36th minute and AC Milan ruined Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho’s first Serie A derby with a 1-0 win Sunday.

Inter was reduced to 10 men in the 77th when defender Nicolas Burdisso picked up his second yellow card for a sliding tackle on Kaka.

“I was hoping to score a goal,” Ronaldinho said. “This is for the fans who made me feel at home. Every day I feel more at home here at Milan.”

After opening the season with two losses, Milan has now won three straight.

“I think we’re healed. Things weren’t going well but we’ve managed to straighten it out,” Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “The fact that we didn’t get scored on tonight is almost more important than the win because until now we had let in goals in every game. Now we have to continue like this to cancel the bad start.”

Milan moved to nine points with the win, one behind Inter. After five games, Lazio tops the standings with 12 points followed by Napoli with 11.

After sitting on the bench for most of Milan’s opening four games, Ronaldinho got a starting nod alongside Kaka and Alexandre Pato in an all-Brazilian attack that frustrated Inter’s defense for much of the game. Kaka often drew tough challenges from Inter’s defenders, which resulted in four yellow cards. Nicolas Burdisso was sent off with 15 lefts after getting a second booking.

Kaka created several good chances for Ronaldinho and Pato was dangerous as he chased down long passes often a step in front of the Inter defenders.

Ronaldinho, the former FIFA player of the year was in form from the start, putting a precise shot on goal in the 25th that Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar punched away by the post.

Three minutes later, Kaka advanced the ball behind Inter’s defense and crossed a high ball into the area that Ronaldinho rose to meet with a header that landed in the corner of the goal.

“He’s not in top form but what he shows me in training isn’t the same as in a match where the pace is quicker,” Ancelotti said of Ronaldinho. “He’s an atypical player. We’ve got to adapt to his characteristics a bit but today he was decisive.”

Inter started with Zlatan Ibrahimovic flanked by Amantino Mancini and Ricardo Quaresma in attack, then removed Mancini and defender Marco Materazzi in the 59th to put on two more forwards — Adriano and Julio Ricardo Cruz.

In the 71st, Cruz and Ibrahimovic each missed shots wide from outside the area within a few seconds of each other. Dejan Stankovic also came on for Inter and missed a chance in the 81st.

A minute later, Materazzi was shown a red card while sitting on Inter’s bench, apparently for protests.

“We weren’t afraid and for that I’m happy. I put Cruz on because I’m not afraid of losing. If I don’t like the score, I put forwards on,” Mourinho said. “The players worked hard and did everything they were supposed to. It was a real derby, but it’s just one game that we’ve lost in this marathon of a season.”

Milan and Inter played their first derby 100 years ago, and the matchup has become one of Serie A’s most bitter rivalries. Sunday’s game, played in front of a sellout crowd of almost 80,000 at the San Siro, was the first derby for Mourinho.

Mourinho and Ancelotti had meet only once before, when Andriy Shevchenko scored to give Milan a 1-0 win over Mourinho’s FC Porto in the 2003 European Super Cup. Shevchenko, who returned to Milan this season after an unsuccessful stint with Chelsea, came on for the last 10 minutes Sunday and had a hard shot on goal that Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar knocked away.