It's relentless at the top.
The top five teams all won, for a change, as the pace at the top of the table continues to be ruthless and manic.
Round 30 played out in some style as Corinthians, Vasco, Flamengo, Botafogo and Fluminense notched important and crucial victories to stay in touch with the league lead and on pace for the title.
On Saturday, Flamengo travelled to the remote outpost of Ceara in the North to grab a priceless away victory through Deivid in a game that they completely dominated. However the game almost descended into anarchy shortly ater Deivid's opener. While contesting a ball near the touchline, Ceara's Heleno appeared to elbow Ronaldinho in the face, who kicked him back. As the ball rolled out of touch, the referee sent them both off. Osvaldo reduced Ceara to nine men in injury time for a second yellow card.
Elsewhere, Figueirense won their second game in a row and third in five unbeaten games with a 2-1 win over bottom club America Mineiro at home. Rodriguinho scored the opener for America before Julio Cesar notched a double to seal the points. On Sunday, Palmeiras lost at home to Fluminense to continue their slide down the table. Jorge Valdivia's penalty for Luiz Felipe Scolari's men was bookended by a double from Fred as the defending champions moved into the top five for the first time all season.
Gremio defeated Santos for the second time in a row as Damien Escudero notched an early penalty to give Gremio a rare away win. Santos have lost five of their last six and are now back to where they were before their mini-revival. Santos are now 13th. In Rio, Botafogo and Vasco both won 2-0, beating At Para 2-0 (Antonio Carlos, Seb Abreu) and Atletico (Elton, Fagner) Mineiro respectively to stay second and third. All the while Corinthians won away, beating Cruzeiro 1-0 thanks to a goal from Paulinho.
Internacional also won, crushing Avai 4-2 at home with Argentine midfielder Andres D'Alessandro scoring a double along with Kleber and Nei notching late strikes. Robinho and William replied for Avai, the latter from the spot. Bahia drew goalless again, this time at Coritiba. At Go rounded out the games with a solid 3-0 over Sao Paulo in the late game with Gilson, Felipe and Anselmo scoring to sound a potential death knell to the visitor's title hopes.
Corinthians still leads Vasco on goal difference, with Botafogo, Flamengo and Fluminense rounding out the top five. Sao Paulo are now sixth, just a point ahead of Internacional. At Mineiro, At Para, Avai and America are still the bottom four.
11 different players now have double digit goals for the season with Borges still in front with 21. William joins national team strikers Fred, Ronaldinho and Leandro Damiao on 13 goals. Intriguingly, five players now have nine strikes for the season so expect the double digit goalscorers' ranks to swell in the coming weeks.
The final run in is about to begin with round 31 kicking off next week. A full preview of the title run in will appear soon.
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