Sao Paulo survives early scare

Not that many people went to the Morumbi Stadium on this cool Thursday night to watch Sao Paulo host Juventude. But those who went suffered a scare early on, when Luciano scored for Juventude after just two minutes. The visitors, who were already thinking about defending before the game, just sat back and decided to rely on counterattacks to hold on to the win.

Fortunately, though, Sao Paulo slowly started to take advantage of the Juventude positioning. Defender Miranda took advantage of a rebound from a free kick and tied the game in the 31st minute. In the second half, two more goals, by Borges and Hugo, sealed the 3-1 win. Sao Paulo reaches 31 points, tying Botafogo for the league's lead - though the team from Rio has one game in hand. Juventude missed a chance to leave the relegation zone, and now remains in 17th place, with 15 points.

The night was even better for Sao Paulo after receiving confirmation that Gremio had lost to Figueirense in Florianopolis. After a poor match played under heavy rain, the locals found a late game with just five minutes to play to seal the win, leaving Gremio in fifth place, with 25 points. Figueirense jumped to 11th, with 22.