Brazilian Serie A Weeks 12 and 13

Flamengo are on the march.

The summer's best league is in full swing and the Brazilian Serie A marches on full steam ahead.  Blink for an instant and you'll miss plenty of action, which is exactly what happened this past week.

With the compressed schedule in place - two match weeks happened in just five days. Gameweek 12 occurred on Wednesday and Thursday last week. Gameweek 13 was quick to follow with games on Saturday and Sunday. Nine matches were played in midweek and a further 10 on the weekend.  Of the 20 teams in the league, everyone played twice except for Internacional and league leaders Corinthians. Both these clubs played twice in Gameweek 11.

Flamengo were the big winners, collecting all six points from both games, beating a rival away from home and eating into Corinthians lead at the top of the table. Could they regain the title they won in 2009 ? Well on this form they could.


Corinthians lost again to see their lead get chipped away by Ronaldinho's Flamengo.

Wednesday saw 14 teams in action as the seven matches played were the biggest complement of games this past week.  Five matches were fairly routine and unspectacular but the two late games were the season's best

Botafogo got things started in the opening game with a come from behind 2-1 win over Avai. After Dirceu had given the visiting team from Florianopolis the lead, the Rio club came back with goals from Maicosuel and German Gustavo Herrera. Later that day a Mauricio Ramos strike game Palmeiras the points in a 1-0 win at Figueirense. Fig continue to plummet after an excellent start while Palmeiras keep pace at the top.

Cruzeiro came crashing down to Earth after their defeat of Corinthians the week before with a 2-0 defeat at At Go. The home side had drawn their match in week 11 and added a solid three points to continue their slow march up the table, away form the relegation mire. Striker Felipe de Souza scored both goals, sealing the points with his second in injury time.

Gremio and America Mineiro played out a 1-1 tie with Willian Rocha's early strike for America cancelled out by Exequiel Miralles, who promptly got send off for a second yellow card 10 minutes after equalizing. The other Mineiro side, Atletico registered their big result in weeks with a strong 1-0 defeat of defending champions Fluminense. The three points were crucial for a side that had lost its previous two games. Andre De Souza scored the game's only goal in the 75th minute.

Then things really got exciting as Santos, Sao Paulo, Coritiba and Flamengo served up a pair of late kickoff fireworks.

First, Santos (featuring Neymar, Elano and Ganso) took a 3-0 lead at home to Flamengo before losing 5-4. Ronaldinho scored a hat-trick, including the winner for Flamengo, while Deivid and Thiago Neves scored the other goals. Flamengo remain unbeaten, while Borges and Neymar scored doubles for Santos - Neymar's first is a contender for goal of the season. 

The match was an end-to-end thriller with countless chances, in addition to the nine goals, a missed penalty from Ganso and a acrobatic assist from the same.  Flamengo stormed back from 3-0 down to tie things up, only for Neymar to score Santos' fourth. Santos barely deserved to lose and only an audacious free kick from Ronaldinho kept Flamengo in it when it looked like Santos had held on for a 4-3 lead.

You can watch the match highlights here. The best match of 2011.

Then, Sao Paulo beat Coritiba (who were losing domestic cup finalists) 4-3 away after racing into a 4-0 lead. Lucas, the U-21 star who played in the Copa America scored the fourth, and eventual game winner. Former Arsenal midfielder, Denilson, in his first game, picked up an injury time red card to get sent off in his first game back.

Carlinhos Paraiba, Juan and Dagoberto scored the other goals for Sao Paulo who maintained their position at the top of the table. Rafinha and a double from Bill kept Coritiba in it.  They may have gotten something from the game had Davi not picked up a red card at the end of the first half and should be commended for their barn storming comeback that just fellow short.

At the end of the night, Sao Paulo were second, Flamengo third, while Copa Libertadores winning Santos were now just above the relegation zone. And epic night with epic goals.

Flamengo would however, make their week even better. Santos' season was about to get a lot worse.

Thursday, obviously, couldn't beat the earlier day's festivities. However it had two games to round out Gameweek 12.

Vasco drew with Bahia as Elton cancelled out Reinaldo's early strike.  Bahia's away form continues to impress. Marcio Careca got dismissed late in the game for the home side. Later, fellow northern side Ceara beat bottom side Atl Para 2-1 at home. Marcelo Nicacio scored a double for Ceara after Madson had given visiting Para an early lead.  Madson is not to be confused with Jadson, who plays for Bahia.

Teams only had a couple of days rest before Gameweek 13 kicked off on the weekend. Six teams saw action on Saturday.

First, Flamengo maintained its winning momentum, and growing self belief, with a smooth 2-0 home win over Gremio. Thiago Neves and Ronaldinho were once again on target in the win.  Six from six for the title chasing Rio side who rose to second, just a point behind leaders Corinthians, having played a game more. Gremio followed up its draw on Wednesday with a loss and now has one win in six. It drops to 16th, just one spot above the trapdoor.

Botafogo, like fellow Rio side Flamengo, stayed perfect, with a 1-0 win at Cruzeiro. Uruguayan striker Sebastian Abreu scored the game winner just after half time. Cru lose two in a row after having won two in a row. They stay ninth. Botafogo have done the exact opposite, winning two after dropping two and rise to sixth.

Finally, Palmeiras and Atletico Mineiro played out a min-thriller (relative to the Santos and Sao Paulo games from earlier in the week) with the Paulista side winning 3-2 at home.  Marcos Assuncao, with a free kick, what else, got things started for Luiz Felipe Scolari's side before Magno Alves levelled things for Mineiro. Luan and Patrick then swung the advantage back for Palmeiras before Wesley scored a late consolation for Atletico. Palmeiras stay fourth with 25 points level with Sao Paulo and also pick up six points from their two games over the week. Atletico rise to 14th but lose for the third time in five games.

Sunday saw another packed schedule as the remaining 14 teams played out seven matches.

Vasco did their Rio rivals Flamengo a massive favour by surprising Sao Paulo 2-0 at Morumbi. Losing at home meant Sao Paulo are eclipsed by Flamengo and drop to third behind them. Eder Luis and Felipe scored the goals for Vasco who followed up their draw against Bahia with three points. They remain dark horses for the tournament and rise to fifth with 24 points.

Fluminense rounded out the action for Rio clubs with a resounding 4-0 thrashing of Ceara at home. National team striker Fred opened the scoring before Souza, Rafael Sobis and Rafael Moura completed the threat. Heleno saw red at the stroke of half time for the visitors.  While Fluminense rise to eighth, their hold on the title is tenuous at best with talk of retention fanciful at best. Ceara stay tenth.

Internacional returned to action with a 0-0 draw with At Go at home, missing the chance to collect three points at home against a lower half side. Inter drop to seventh but At Go rise to 15th, having gained a precious point. Avai and At Para then served up the upsets of the round with identical 3-2 wins at home.

Avai recovered from their defeat at Botafogo on Wednesday with the result of the round beating leaders Corinthians. After Emerson, the Brazilian born Qatari put Corinthians in the lead, William and Rafael Coelho, with a double, put Avai firmly in control of the match.  Corinthians replied late with a goal from Jorge Henrique. With their second defeat on the trot, Corinthians hold on the lead is slipping. What once seemed a distant target disappearing in the distance, is once again turning into a recoverable deficit with Flamengo in hot pursuit.

How quickly things change.

Bottom side At Para shocked Santos on their travels. Cleber Santana, Manoel and Marcinho scored for the home side, sandwiching goals from Neymar and Borges for Santos. With the result, At Para only edged America Mineiro on goal difference, as both clubs are tied on eight points. They are joined in the bottom four by Santos, who are now 17th with 11 points. Could the Libertadores champions go down ?

Reinaldo scored the opener for the second game running as Bahia won 3-1 at home over Figueirense. Avine and Jones scored the other goals for the giants from the North while Wellington Souza replied for Fig. They lost for the second game in a row and drop to 12th, winless in six. Bahia are now 13th, unbeaten in three.

The late game on the weekend saw Coritiba beat America Mineiro away in Belo Horizonte. Bill and Marcos Aurelio, with two goals, saw off Kempes' 55th minute strike. Coritiba remain 11th but America drop to last, on goal difference.

Plenty of action, plenty of goals, plenty of drama. The Brazilian Serie A.

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The rounds results were Flamengo's defeat of Santos coupled with Avai and At Para's wins.

With his four goals in two games, Ronaldinho has regained the scoring lead with nine goals.  Santos's striker Borges and Cruzeiro's Walter Montillo are tied for second with six goals each. Eight others are tied with five goals each.

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Over the two rounds, Rio clubs won six, drew one and lost only one game.

In contrast, over the same period, Sao Paulo clubs picked up five wins and three losses.

Three of the bottom four clubs picked up at least a win.

Over the 19 games, 62 goals were scored as only one game finished goalless.

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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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Gameweek 14 kicks off on Wednesday, August 2, 2011.