As you were.
Corinthians, Sao Paulo and Flamengo all won this round in a gameweek played over the midweek of Wednesday and Thursday. With Palmeiras picking up a draw on their travels and Vasco beating Santos handily at home, Luiz Felipe Scolari's side dropped a spot as the Rio club overtook them into fourth place.
Ten games were played and three matches ended in away wins, two of them big triumphs for clubs in the relegation quagmire, the other being Flamengo's 1-0 win over Cruzeiro. The latter have now lost three games in a row after shocking Corinthians away as their premier strike pairing of Wallyson and Walter Montillo have been held scoreless in over 270 minutes of football.
Flamengo are looking the team to beat as they are still unbeaten and picked up their eighth win in 14 games. Their latest win saw their sixth clean sheet and second one in a row.
The table got compressed somewhat as At Para beat At Go to move off the foot of the table. 11 points now separate sixth from 19th.
Seven games were played on Wednesday.
League leaders Corinthians got things started with a 2-1 home win over bottom side America Mineiro. Although they collected the three points, one can see the lack of confidence that plagued the Corinthians' performance and they only managed to seal their first win after two straight losses with a degree of luck when America's Gilson got dismissed just after the hour mark. The team that was rampaging to a huge lead with games in hand played nervously and only edged the worst team in the league, at home.
Jorge Henrique scored the opened before Kempes scored his second in as many games to level things. Paulinho then scored the winner just as Gilson was dismissed, his fourth goal of the campaign proving to be most precious.
Corinthians maintain their lead over Flamengo to a point, having played a game less. America are now three points adrift of At Para in 20th.
Gremio drew 2-2 with Miniero's other team Athletico at home. Leandro, with his first and captain Fabio Rochemback, from the penalty spot, scored for Gremio, who twice threw away a lead at both 1-0 and 2-1. Andre and Leonardo Da Silva replied for Athletico. The former has been most handy since a loan move from Dynamo Kyiv with two goals in three games while Da Silva notched his third strike of the campaign. Gremio still drop to 15th while Athletico remain 13th.
Figueirense reversed their slide of two straight defeats with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Botafogo, who saw their two game winning streak snapped. Edson Silva scored the opener before getting an early bath for two yellows before Julio Cesar sealed the win, for Jorginho's men with a second from the spot. Maicosuel joined Silva with a late dismissal himself. Fig rise to ninth while Botafogo drop to sixth.
Vasco shocked Santos with an easy 2-0 win over Santos at home to move up the table and keep Santos' revival on hold at least for another week. Diego Souza and Dede scored for Da Gama with early goals that the Rio side comfortably held on to. Santos are now in 18th spot just three points off the bottom.
Palmeiras were held to a 1-1 draw at Coritiba but Marcos Assuncao still scored for the second game in a row. His latest strike cancelled out Jeci's early goal for the promoted cup finalists. The loss of two points is crucial as Palmeiras just stay ahead of the pack of teams outside the top four. Coritiba rise to tenth.
The remaining two games on the day ended in away wins. Flamengo beat Cruzeiro to stay on pace with the leaders - Deivid doing the damage with his sixth strike of the campaign and second in three games. Flamengo stay a point behind the leaders while Cru drop to 11th.
Avai however, gave a masterful performance to back up their win over Corinthians last week. Travelling to Ceara, a daunting trip to the North, they followed up their win with a resplendent 3-0 hammering of their hosts. William, with his fourth goal in five games, Rafael Coelho with his third in two and Cleverson gave Avai their second away of the campaign and moved Avai up to 17th, above Santos. An excellent win that was the result of the round. Ceara drop to 12th.
On Thursday, the remaining six teams played their matches with several notable results.
Sao Paulo, who had temporarily dropped out of the top four on account of Vasco and Palmeiras playing a day earlier, resumed their title challenge with a strong 3-0 home win over Bahia. Captain Rogerio Ceni scored an early penalty, Dagoberto scored a second before national team midfielder Lucas rounded out the scoring with his fourth. Fellow starlet Casemiro is on duty with the national team at the U-20 World Cup in Colombia, beating Panama 4-0. Sao Paulo move back up to third, four points behind Flamengo. Bahia stay 14th.
Fluminense stayed in the hunt, somewhat, beating Internacional 2-0 at home. Rafael Moura with his second in as many games and Souza scored the goals for the home side who rise to ninth with their fourth win at the Joao Havelange Stadium. Inter stay seventh and saw Wilson Matias see a straight red late in the game.
Finally, At Para recorded a crushing 3-0 away win over At Go. Fabricio Carioca, Manoel, with his second in as many games and Kleberson, formerly of Manchester United, with his first, gave At Para the win. They are now three points above America and look to head up the table. Anselmo and new signing Felipe were held scoreless for the home side.
Santos may yet drop to 19th.
Avai and At Para recorded the results of the round with their 3-0 away wins.
Ronaldinho, with nine goals and Santos' Borges, with 7, were held scoreless this round but still lead the scoring charts.
--
Flamengo are still the only unbeaten club.
The top five clubs have broken away somewhat as Palmeiras in fifth is four points clear of Botafogo in sixth.
Six clubs hover in mid table separated by two points, from Inter in seventh down to Ceara in 12th.
Figueirense, At Para, America and amazingly Santos are still to win away from home.
--
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.
--
Vasco Da Gama, who won the Copa Do Brasil, have booked a spot at the 2012 Copa Libertadores.
--
No comments:
Post a Comment