Thaindian News

Rio de Janerio, Nov 21 (IANS) Corinthians were able to hold onto first place in the Brazilian Football Championship after 36 rounds.

With their 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Atletico-MG, Corinthians improve to 67 points and enjoy a two-point lead over second place Vasco da Gama here Sunday.

Adriano was the hero for Corinthians, scoring the game-winning goal and his first with Corinthians, Xinhua reported.

Corinthians will next travel to face Figueirense on Nov 27 in the penultimate round of the running-point tournament.

Vasco da Gama remains close behind in second place with 65 points after its 2-0 win over a visiting Avai. Fluminense keeps third place with 62 points due to its 4-0 win over Figueirense. Fred produced another hat-trick and has scored 7 goals in his last two matches.

Vasco da Gama and Fluminense will face-off in the penultimate round in a must-win situation for both teams in order to remain in contention to win this year’s championship. Fluminense is the reigning champion and hopes to repeat.

Internacional’s 2-1 win over Botafogo propels the team into fourth place with 57 points, carrying the tie-breaking advantage due to its over-all record.

Figueirense’s humiliating loss to Fluminense ends its 14-game undefeated streak and drops to fifth place with 57 points. Despite its 0-0 draw on the road against Atletico-GO, Flamengo holds onto sixth place with 57 points.

Sao Paulo stands in seventh place with 56 points, trailed by Botafogo with 55 points. Due to its 1-0 win over Santos, Coritiba improves to ninth place with 54 points while Santos drops to tenth place with 52 points.

Gremio hangs onto 11th place with 47 points, followed by Palmeiras, improving to 46 points due to its 2-0 win over Bahia. Atletico-GO falls to 13th place with 44 points, 14th place belongs to Atletico-MG with 42 points, Bahia remains in 15th place with 42 points and Cruzeiro remains in 16th place with 39 points.

The bottom-four bracket belongs to 17th place Ceara with 38 points, 18th place Atletico-PR with 38 points, 19th place America-MG with 34 points and last place Avai with 32 points.

The bottom bracket suffers relegation to the second division of the 2012 Brazilian Championship. In return, the top-four finishers of the second division gain ascension into the first division in 2012.

Two rounds of play remain in this year’s tournament. The 37th round will be played, Nov 27 while the final round of the running-point tournament will be held Dec 4.