Last minute goal saves Palmeiras

Palmeiras gained a point in a 2-2 tie with Santos on Thursday, scoring the tying goal in the last minute of play to keep alive a five-game unbeaten streak. Santos opened the score with Kleber - returning from a stunt with the Brazilian National Team - in the 11th minute. Nen tied the game for Palmeiras eight minutes later, but Pedrinho put Santos back on the lead with a goal in injury time of the first half. Palmeiras pushed forward in the second half, allowing for dangerous counterattacks by Santos. In the last play of the game, the ball was shot to the penalty box, where Martinez deflected it with a header and hit Rodrigo Souto, who ended up scoring an own goal.

In Uberlandia, Parana won for the first time in five games, beating Flamengo 2-1. Josiel scored twice in two minutes (in the 28th and 30th minutes) to put Parana up ahead, while Leo Medeiros gave Flamengo some hope with a goal in the 36th minute. In the end, however, Parana managed to hold on to the lead to leave Flamengo with eight points in nine matches, still in the relegation zone. Parana reached fifth place in the standings, with 19 points.

Finally, second place Goias played to a scoreless tie against Gremio in Goiania, in a poor match with very few chances created by both sides. Goias now trails Botafogo by four points, but the leaders have one game in hand.

Botafogo loses first match

Still trying to deal with the suspension of goalscorer Dodo due to a doping charge, Botafogo travelled to Santos trying to maintain its lead atop the standings in the Brazilian League. It managed to do that, but not before losing its first game of the season, 3-0 to Santos.

The team started the game playing quite well, and dominated the first half. But without translating that dominance into a lead, Botafogo had to deal with a determined local side coming back to the second half. Marcos Aurelio took advantage of a lapse of attention by the Botafogo defense in the 60th minute, and scored the game's first goal. Four minutes later, Rodrigo Tabata scored on a free kick. Moraes made it 3-0 in the last minute of regulation, a result that did not quite reflect the reality of a very disputed game, but which undoubtedly ended the last unbeaten record in the league.

Luckily for Botafogo, its lead at the top remains of five points, after Goias lost to Cruzeiro 2-1 in Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo tied Corinthians 1-1 in the Morumbi.

In other results, Internacional managed a heroic comeback to defeat America Natal 2-1, with two goals in the second half. Atletico Mineiro went to Recife and lost to Sport, 2-0. And Palmeiras tied Gremio 1-1 in Porto Alegre.

Vasco humbles Santos

Santos confirmed its erractic play of late, going to Rio de Janeiro and losing embarrassingly to Vasco in Sao Januario, by a 4-0 score. The result left the Sao Paulo State champions dangerously close to the relegation zone, while Vasco sits just outside the Libertadores qualifying zone.

Meanwhile, Sport survived a tying goal and late pressure by Corinthians in Recife, scoring a second time to win the game 2-1. Flamengo and Atletico Mineiro, on the other hand, had a poor match that ended in unusual fashion, with Atletico going ahead 1-0 in the 88th minute only to have the visitors score to tie the game four minutes later.

At the end of the ninth round, the top of the table still features Botafogo, Sao Paulo, Goias and Parana. Nautico, America Natal, Flamengo and Juventude are at the bottom of the standings.