All hell has broken loose.
After a season that was beginning to offer up a recognizable pattern, the form book was thrown out the window in a topsy-turvy set of results in week 7. A midweek spread saw all 20 teams in action, with six games on Wednesday, as the Serie A kicked into overdrive on the eve of the 2011 Copa America.
Sao Paulo lost again, while local rivals Corinthians and Palmeiras both won. Santos lost as well, devoid of national team members, Neymar, Ganso and Elano. Meanwhile both Fluminense and Flamengo won again, the former, away from home.
Four teams won away from home in a bad week for home teams.
While Sao Paulo has been ousted from top spot and now trails Corinthians despite having played a game more, Palmeiras and Botafogo just behind. Inter were the other big winners with a big away win. What a difference a few weeks make.
Corinthians are the new lead the table while Atletico Paranaense are now bottom.
The Rio clubs had another good week with three of them winning and only Vasco Da Gama losing 3-0, that too at home, to Cruzeiro. While the visitors are on the up and recorded their second win in a row, Vasco, the 2012 Cup Champions, will be most disappointed with the loss. To add further spice to the result, Cruzeiro are now just one spot behind their hosts in the table, sitting in 10th spot.
Argentine Walter Montillo scored again for the visitors with his fourth while Leandro Guerreiro and Roger rounded out the scoring.
Gremio tied Avai 2-2 at home with the Florianopolis side now having conceded 20 goals in the league. Still, another point is not to be scoffed at. For the home side Rafael Marques and Douglas fought back for a point after Avai had surged into a 2-0 with goals from Gustavo Bastos and Robinho (no, not that one). Batista's dismissal for Avai, just after half time, allowed Gremio to claw back into the game while Douglas was sent off shortly after converting his penalty in the 75th minute.
America Mineiro gave as good as they got going down 2-3 to Flamengo at home. In what was supposed to be a tricky test for the Rio club, a double from Ronaldinho either side of a Deivid strike ensured they took all three points from their trip to Belo Horizonte. Alessandro, with his fourth goal of the season, and Anderson scored for America, who saw Leandro Ferreira dismissed for a second yellow card in the 71st minute.
Flamengo, still unbeaten, are quietly building up a head of steam after a slow start. Ronaldino has now scored in three consecutive games and has five goals. Deivid is one behind him with four goals. The 2009 winners are now in sixth spot.
Elkeson, with his fourth strike of the campaign, and German Gustavo Herrera scored the goals for Botafogo, as The Fire burned Sao Paulo 2-0, at their home in Morumbi. After having threatened to run away with the league, it appears Sao Paulo have been brought back down to Earth as they crashed to their second defeat in as many games. Botafogo are now unbeaten in six games, a run containing four wins, to rise up to fourth in the table. They are tied on points with Palmeiras, who are third. Sao Paulo are one point ahead of the pair in second spot.
High flying promoted side Figueriense continued their impressive season with a strong 2-1 home win over Santos. The return to domestic action was not pleasant for the newly crowned Copa Libertadores champions, with the absences of their national team trio, a bit too much to handle. Santos remain stuck towards the bottom of the table and are now in the last relegation spot in 17th. Aloisio scored a double for Figueirense, who remain in fifth spot, while Rychely replied for Santos. Borges and Ze Eduardo were held scoreless for Santos.
In the late game on Wednesday, Corinthians eased into the league lead with an early Chicao penalty giving them the points at Bahia. An extremely impressive fifth win in six games sees the Paulista side take over the league lead while Bahia lost at home after an impressive two game winning road trip. Corinthians remain unbeaten and are one point ahead of previous leaders Sao Paulo, having played one game less. Bahia see some of their recent good work undone and drop to 12th.
Thusday's action saw the remaining four games played out for four results. A lower table six pointer between two promoted teams, saw Cup finalists Coritiba beat Ceara 3-1 to finally win their second game of the campaign. Leonardo, Everton Costa and Lea Gago (no relation to Argentine and Real midfielder Fernando) put Coritiba up 3-0 before Washington pulled one back, and then promptly got dismissed, for Ceara. Coritiba are now up to 14th while Ceara, despite the loss moved up a spot to 16th, just clear of the relegation zone.
Maikon Leite and Marcos Assuncao, form a penalty, no less, scored for Palmeiras as they maintained pace at the top of the table. Their 2-0 home win over Atl Go got them back to winning ways after a shock loss last round at Ceara. Palmeiras remain in third spot, tucked behind local rivals Sao Paulo while Atl Go drop to 15th.
Fluminense destroyed bottom side Atl Para at home, winning 3-1. Ciro scored a double after Mariano had gotten things going for the defending champions. Edigar scored a late consolation for At Para, for whom the season keeps getting worse. The 2001 winners have impressed for the past decade consistently finishing either in the top half or thereabouts. Their record now is in real threat of ending in relegation to Serie B. They have one point after seven games and have scored just two goals.
Defending Serie A Champions Fluminense are now taking off with their second straight win and third win in five. They are upto seventh, a point behind cross town rivals Flamengo.
The late game on Thursday and final fixture of the round saw Internacional put in a five star performance to annihilate Atletico Mineiro 4-0 in Belo Horinzonte. What was supposed to be a difficult trip for Inter turned into a cake walk as Leandro Damiao, who missed out on a Copa America spot, Andres D'Alessandro, Ze Roberto and Oscar all scored during the rout. To add insult to injury, Guilherme Santos saw red late in the game for the home side. Oscar now has four goals while partner Damiao has three.
Inter are now upto 8th, running a two game win streak and unbeaten in five games. With D'Alessandro pulling the strings and linking with the strike pair of Oscar and Damiao, perhaps a new title threat is emerging. Falcao's charges are on a roll.
Along with Internacional, Cruzeiro were the big winners this round - both teams recording big away wins over rated opposition.
Ronaldinho leads the scoring charts with five goals ahead of eight other players tied with four strikes apiece.
Notably, Palmeiras' Luan and Corinthians' Liedson, both didn't score this round. Meanwhile Wallyson is still to open his account for Cruzeiro this season.
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Trivia Alert: Figueirense are coached by Jorginho, the same Brazilian right back who played for the World Cup winning Brazil side in 1994. He had a great tournament but was dismissed in the Round of 16 win over the US, where he broke American midfielder Tab Ramos' skull during a tussle for the ball. He returned for and played in the semi-final but was replaced by none other than Cafu, in the final match against Italy.
It's great to seem him coaching and he seems to be a good one at that.
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Sao Paolo clubs are still 1-2-3 but there is a change in the lead as Corinthians took over from Sao Paulo.
Three of the four Rio clubs won and now all four of them are in the top nine.
Only two clubs remain unbeaten, Corinthians and Ronaldinho's Flamengo.
Two clubs remain winless in Avai and Atletico Paranaense who are 19th and 20th respectively.
All 10 games had a result as 32 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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