Corinthians surprises Botafogo in Rio

Botafogo spent 16 round without a loss at home in this year's Brazilian Serie A soccer league. Now the team has lost two in a row at the Maracana Stadium. After last week's 2-0 loss to Sao Paulo, the team lost this Wednesday to Corinthians by 3-2. The game against Corinthians had been postponed due to preparation for the Pan-American Games, which took place in Rio last month.

With the result, Botafogo wasted a great chance to close the gap to the league leaders, since the team had a game in hand and could have finished the first half of the season trailing Sao Paulo by just four points. Now the difference remains at seven. For the visitors, the win leaves the team six points above the top team in the relegation zone, creating some needed insurance for the second half of the season.

Botafogo opened the score early in the game, when Nilton scored an own goal. Arce tied the game shortly after, in the 10th minute. The match was very balanced, with both teams wasting opportunities. But the next goal of the game would only come in the second half, in the 54th minute. Defender Nilton redeemed himself and scored again, this time for his own team, on a good shot from outside the penalty box. Three minutes later, Finazzi scored again for the visitors.

He'd almost score again in the 76th minute, but his shot would hit the crossbar. One minute later, Dodo scored on a penalty kick to give final numbers to the game. Corinthians sat back and resisted bravely for the final minutes, as the locals unsuccessfully pressed on for the tying goal that never arrived.