Vasco gets important road win

Vasco reached third place in the standings with an impressive 2-0 road win over Internacional on Wednesday. It was only the second road win of the season for the team from Rio de Janeiro, which had also lost five times and tied once away from home. Inter lost for the second time in seven matches, and fell eight points back from leaders Botafogo. The locals created a few chances and could have opened the score in the first half, but it was Vasco that took advantage of the opportunities that appeared near the end of the opening 45 minutes. Alan Kardec and Amaral scored for the visitors, who only had to sit back and administer the two-goal advantage in the second half to reach 26 points.

Botafogo jumped to 31 points to remain at the top of the table with a 4-2 win over America Natal in Cariacica. The leaders had a scare twice when they scored and saw America come back to tie the game. In the end, however, Botafogo showed why the team is in first place and why America is in last, and controlled the final half to score twice and seal the 4-2 win. Ze Roberto was the name of the match, with two goals.

Santos went to Belo Horizonte and recovered from the two straight losses it had suffered in its last two games, beating Atletico Mineiro 2-1. Kleber set up Marcos Aurelio in the first half and Kleber Pereira in the second to score the goals for the visitors, while Danilinho had Atletico's lone goal. After two wins, Atletico loses the first since coach Zetti was fired, and fans anxiously wait to see how the team will react to the first loss under Emerson Leao.

Corinthians' winless streak reached 10 games, after a 2-2 draw on the road against Atletico Paranaense. The locals scored first in the final minute of the first half, but Corinthians was able to come back in the final 45 minutes with William, who scored twice to give the visitors a short-lived lead. Near the end of the game, Cadu scored an own goal to extend Corinthians personal purgatory.

Goias defeated Parana 2-0 at home, with Paulo Baier scoring once and setting up the other goal. Nautico went back home after defeating Santos on the road and, despite dominating some stretches of the game, was unable to get much going against Fluminense, in a game that ended scoreless.

Palmeiras scored first and looked like it wouldn't have too much problem beating Sport Recife in Sao Paulo. However, the team slowed down and allowed the visitors to score twice for a 2-1 road win. The visitors played with only nine men for the last 17 minutes (the first player had been sent off in the 12th minute, with a second sent of in the 73rd), but Palmeiras was still unable to tie the game. A nice rebound for Sport, which had lost at home to Inter on Sunday, 5-1.

Gremio jumps to second place

Gremio likes playing at the Aflitos Stadium in Recife. Two years ago, the stadium was the venue for one of the most fantastic matches ever played by the team, which heroically battled on with just eight players to guarantee a win over Nautico that granted the team the promotion to the following year's Serie A. Yesterday, after Nautico had to wait an extra year to join Gremio in the Brazilian football elite, both teams faced each other again for the first time in the same venue of that historical night. The end result was the same, a win by Gremio, even if not in as dramatic fashion. Playing a defensive style, the visitors took advantage of counter-attacks to get the 2-0 win, with Tuta scoring in the first half and Carlos Eduardo in the second. The result puts Gremio in second place, with 24 points. Nautico is tied for last with America with just 10 points in 14 games.

America Natal ended up losing to Flamengo on the road (1-3) to drop one spot to the bottom of the table. Flamengo now has 11 points in 11 maches, with the win over America being only the team's second of the season. At least Flamengo fans were able to celebrate the third goal, scored by Obina, who's still recovering his fitness after being out for a couple of months due to an injury.

Meanwhile, Santos went to Goiania and lost its four-game unbeaten streak, falling to Goias by 1-0 on a goal by Welliton. The locals climbed back to third in the standings, with 23 points, while Santos remains with 18 points, good for 12th in the standings. Atletico Paranaense tied Cruzeiro at home (2-2), with the visitors scoring in injury time of the second half.

This was the same result of the Figueirense against Corinthians game, in Florianopolis. The locals lost several chances to end the game early, always stopping on great saves by goalkeeper Felipe. Corinthians took advantage of the few chances it created and escaped with a very good away draw. Internacional once again took advantage of the play of Alexandre Pato, scoring a 1-0 win at home over Parana to reach 20 points, 9th in the standings.

But the most entertaining match of the evening was reserved to the Parque Antarctica Stadium in Sao Paulo, where visitors Vasco jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first half, just to see Palmeiras come back to win 3-2. The locals scored twice in the final 10 minutes, despite the fact they had been playing one man short since the 65th minute. The result prevented Vasco from reaching fourth place in the standings, instead providing Palmeiras with the chance to get past Vasco and move into 6th in the standings.

Parana loses again at home

Three matches opened the 11th round of the 2007 Brazilian League on Thursday. Parana lost its second straight match at home, this time 2-1 to Figueirense, wasting a golden chance to climb back to the top four in the standings. Last week, the team had already lost at home (0-1) to last place America Natal. With the win, the team from Santa Catarina jumped to sixth place with 17 points, seven behind leaders Botafogo.

Vasco also gained some valuable positions on the table, jumping to the same 17 points as Figueirense and Palmeiras, but having a better goal differential to temporarily claim fourth spot. On Thursday the team hosted Atletico Parananense and suffered to win by the minimum 1-0 score. Atletico played without many regulars, but still managed to get a one-goal lead, which was waved off for an offside that did not occur. Leandro Amaral scored the only valid goal of the game for Vasco.

The third match featured Juventude and Nautico in Caxias do Sul. The last placed team from Pernambuco surprised the locals, who were also trying to escape the relegation zone. The 1-1 final result still leaves Nautico in last place - tied with America Natal with 7 points - but Juventude temporarily leaves the bottom four, if only by virtue of a better goal differential. The team is now in 15th place with 11 points, the same number as 17th placed Santos and 16th Internacional.

Six matches will be played on Saturday, but the 11th round will only be completed in mid-August, with the derby between Flamengo and Fluminense, postponed from this weekend due to the PanAmerican Games in Rio de Janeiro.

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.