The Pato show

Internacional fans surely missed Alexandre Pato. The young star, who was away with the Brazilian Under-20 team for most of the past month, returned to Inter's starting eleven in top form this Wednesday, at the Beira-Rio Stadium, in Porto Alegre. With two goals and one assist, Pato helped dismantle Corinthians in the second half of a game Inter won 3-0. The locals won their third straight game to jump to eighth place in the standings, with 17 points. It wasn't that long ago that the team had been dangerously close to the relegation zone, raising concerns among the faithful red. These concerns must now surely rest with the fans of Corinthians, winless in six matches and down to the 16th place in the standings with 14 points, just one position out of the relegation zone.

Before the start of the game, fans paid one minute of silence in respect to the victims of the accident with an airplane that was going from Porto Alegre to Sao Paulo on Tuesday. Nearly 200 people, many from Porto Alegre - and including one former Internacional president -, died on the crash at the Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo. Despite the mourning, both teams quickly pushed forward after kickoff. The game started on a frantic pace, with teams alternating scoring chances. At the end of 45 minutes, however, the game was still scoreless. The first goal was scored only in the 61st minute, when Pato took a penalty kick suffered by Iarley. He would also score the second goal for the locals, in the 80th minute, with a strong shot from just inside the penalty box. Adriano scored in the last minute after another play by Alexandre Pato, to give Inter the final 3-0 score.

Meanwhile, Sao Paulo keeps wasting opportunities to close on the league leaders, Botafogo. Playing against Fluminense at the Morumbi Stadium, the team once again failed to score, having only nine goals in 12 matches this season. Even worse, it lost the game 1-0 and thus ended a 23-year unbeaten streak against the rival at the Morumbi Stadium. Fluminense seems to have learned from Brazil's success at the Copa America, as coach Renato Gaucho simply positioned his team to not allow any spaces to be taken advantage of by the locals. The strong marking system worked, and Sao Paulo failed to create many chances during the game. The visitors also took advantage of one of the few chances they had themselves, and scored on a penalty kick awarded in the 53rd minute.

And Sao Paulo's life will not get any easier. On the weekend they travel to Belo Horizonte to face a reinvigorated Cruzeiro team, coming off two good wins. After beating second place Goias last Saturday (2-1), the team coached by Dorival Junior came from behind to soundly beat Nautico on Wednesday, 4-1. Nautico opened the score in the second minute, but Cruzeiro tied the game ten minutes later, coming back in the second half to score three more times. It was a good psychological win for the team as well, after losing its two previous road games (to Figueirense and Santos). The win lifted Cruzeiro to third place in the standings, past Sao Paulo, with 19 points. Meanwhile, Nautico continues in last place with seven points, having lost six games and tied four in its last ten matches.

Another team from the Brazilian Northeast is also in trouble deep in the standings, joining Nautico at the bottom of the table. America Natal went to Belo Horizonte and also lost by a 4-1 score, to Cruzeiro's archrivals Atletico Mineiro. Atletico scored the two first goals in 20 minutes, and after America scored one shortly thereafter, the local team was still able to answer with the third goal before the first half was over. Not many chances were created in the second half, and the fourth Atletico goal only came five minutes from the end of regulation. The win was important for the locals, who now have 16 points and are five points clear of Juventude, the last team in the relegation zone.

Juventude didn't do itself any favours on Wednesday, going to Curitiba and losing 4-0 to Atletico Paranaense. Atletico, which had been held scoreless in its last two games, welcomed the return of its top scorer, Alex Mineiro, who had missed these two games. And he was quick to make himself noticed, scoring on a penalty kick in the 7th minute to open the score. The other goals would come only in the second half.

Finally, Sport surprised everyone with a road win over Figueirense in Santa Catarina. In a poor game with few scoring chances and low technical quality, the visitors were lucky to score a goal in the 88th minute, with Carlinhos Bala. Figueirense lost a chance to climb to second in the standings, while Sport reached sixth place.

Three games close out the 12th round on Thursday. Goias hosts Gremio at the Serra Dourada Stadium in Goiania. Santos travels to Sao Paulo to face Palmeiras, while Flamengo and Parana play on neutral grounds in Uberlandia, since Flamengo is unable to host its games in Rio during the ongoing Pan-American Games.