Sao Paulo takes the lead from Botafogo

Sao Paulo defeated Gremio 2-0 on the road on Sunday and took the lead on the 2007 Brazilian Serie A football league. The defending champions were lucky to score in the third minute with Borges, holding on the pressure from the locals for most of the game to reach 34 points in the standings. Diego Tardelli, who had just replaced Borges, scored the second goal in the 87th minute on a counterattack, after a very balanced match in which Sao Paulo's defense worked well enough to give the attack the chance to score on the chances it created.

Meanwhile, Botafogo played better than Parana on the road, but still wasn't able to score in a 0-0 draw in Curitiba. Goalkeeper Flavio made two great saves for the locals, while newcomer Marcos Leandro had no trouble but in a header by Josiel. With the result, Botafogo is now two points behind Sao Paulo, with one game in hand. The teams face each other on Wednesday, at the Maracana in Rio.

In other results, Figueirense susprised Vasco in Rio and settled for a 2-2 draw, ending the locals perfect record at home. Fluminense played for in Rio for the first time in seven matches, in the reopening of the Maracana Stadium, and lost to Palmeiras, 1-0. Internacional went to Belo Horizonte without Alexandre Pato and left the Mineirao Stadium with a 3-2 loss to Cruzeiro. Flamengo was not able to get much going in the debut of new coach Joel Santana, going to Santos and losing to the locals by a 3-0 score. Atletico Mineiro, on the other hand, had a good road game, defeating Juventude 2-1 in Caxias do Sul to end that team's five-game unbeaten streak at home.

Speaking of streaks, Corinthians was able to end a 10-game winless streak with a win over Goias at home, 1-0, on Saturday. Sport Recife came from behind at home to beat Atletico Paranaense 3-2, while America Natal kept its losing ways by hosting Nautico and losing by a terrible 5-1 score.