The 2011 Brazilian Serie A Title Race is back on!
In a nutshell, the top teams mostly dropped points, several teams in the lower part of the table scored important wins, All four Rio clubs won, two of the three Sao Paulo clubs lost and Ceara and Bahia both won!
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Massive shock at the top of the table as second placed Corinthians destroyed Sao Paulo 5-0 at home at the Municipal Stadium. Despite not playing their U-20 stars in Casemiro and Lucas, one expected Sao Paulo to still have enough to hold off Corinthians. However Leonardo Bacchi's side blew away their local rivals in a game that they dominated from start to finish. Portuguese striker Liedson scored a hat-trick and Jorge Henrique and Danilo chipped in with a goal each.
Sao Paulo have been stopped in their tracks and the rest of the league has a chance again. Although they still lead the table with 15 points from six games, Corinthians are now second with 13 from five matches. More interestingly, Palmeiras, who were second heading into the weekend, lost away at Ceara and now drop down to third with 11 from six games. Stephanie Araujo must be inconsolable.
Towards the bottom of the table, Ceara won 2-0 with goals from Washington and Thiago Humberto. While Palmeiras lose momentum at the top of the table, Ceara broke clear of the relegation zone and now sit in 14th spot with seven points from their six games. Palmeiras are now winless in three away games.
All four Rio clubs had a good weekend, for once, as all collected points after weeks of disappointing results.
On Saturday, Flamengo finally came good as they downed Atletico Mineiro 4-1 at home. Both Ronaldinho and Dudu Cearense got on the scoreshtto for their respective clubs while a Thiago Neves strike and a Deivid double rounded out the win for Flamengo. After four straight draws, this win takes Flamengo to sixth in the table.
Mineiro's season is stuck in reverse, winless for four games they now drop to tenth.
Elsewhere in Rio De Janeiro, Botafogo beat Gremio 2-1, at home, for their second win in three games as they extended their unbeaten streak to five games. Marcelo Mattos and, waitforit, Elkeson, scored the goals for the fire as they now sit in fourth spot. Gremio, are winless in three as they lost for the second time in that stretch. A late Rafael Marques goal was nothing more than a consolation as they were unable to overcome the deficit once Fernando saw red in the 70th minute. They fall to 13th.
Fluminense, as expected travelled to Avai and beat them 1-0 with a goal from striker Dario Conca. Fellow forward Rafael Moura saw red but the defending champions held on for a three points away from home. Avai remain rock bottom with one point and 18 goals in the away column. Fluminense rise to ninth.
Rounding out the Rio teams, Vasco scored a solid away win, 1-0 at Atl Go. Although At Go are having a mixed season, they are strong at home. The Stadium of the Governor of Goias (no seriously), is a notoriously hard place to travel to. With Elton and Bernardo starting on the bench, Felipe scored an early goal for Vasco. Vasco are now fifth as At Go drop to 12th.
So four games and four wins for Rio's footballing fraternity.
The remaining games on Saturday saw Cruzeiro beat Coritiba 2-1 at home with Argentine Walter Montillo scoring a brace. Cru leapfrog their opponents as they rise to 15th while Coritiba drop down to 18th, deep in the relegation zone.
Speaking of relegation zone, Bahia scored another crucial and massive away win, beating Atl Para 2-0 at their home ground in Curitiba. The Estadio Joaquim America Guimares will be hosting games at the 2014 World Cup. Bahia's two game road trip has ended perfectly with two wins out of two. They return to their home in Fortaleza sitting pretty in 11th while Para stay in 19th with a single point.
Finally, Internacional restored the ying-yang of Porto Allegre. Since Gremio lost, Inter promptly won, beating high flying Figueirense 4-1 at home. Both Leandro Damiao and Oscar scored for the home side as Figueirense's three game unbeaten streak came to an end.
While Bahia scored another crucial away win, Corinthians notched the result of the round beating crosstown rivals Sao Paulo 5-0.
Portuguese striker Liedson joins Bernardo (Vasco) and Luan (Palmeiras) at the top of the scoring charts with four goals.
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Although Sao Paulo clubs are still 1-2-3, two of them lost as Palmeiras and Corinthians traded places.
All four Rio clubs won.
Only two clubs are now unbeaten, Corinthians and Ronaldinho's Flamengo.
Three clubs remain winless in Avai, Atletico Paranaense and Cruzeiro.
Both teams from the city of Curitiba lost.
All 9 games had a result as 27 goals were scored.
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At least the top 13 sides will qualify for continental competition next spring while the bottom four teams will get relegated to the 2012 Serie B. Santos added to the four spots the league gets in the 2012 Copa Libertadores by winning this year's edition.
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Vasco Da Gama, who won the Copa Do Brasil, have booked a spot at the 2012 Copa Libertadores.
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