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| The star of the weekend was Santos' 19 year old wonder kid Neymar, who bagged a 7 minute hat-trick to relegate Goiás. |
2nd placed Fluminense faced a tough trip to São Paulo and after the home team equalised in the 55th minute things were looking tough for Fluminense, however 2 red cards for the home team and three goals for the away team including 2 from Argentine striker Darío Conca gave Fluminense a 1-4 win and a one point lead at the top of the table. After a lot of complaining from Fluminense about Ronaldo's soft penalty for Corinthians last week, critics of the club will surely point to São Paulo's 2nd red card in this game should they go on to win the championship in two weeks time.
3rd placed Cruzeiro knew that their title hopes would almost certainly vanish without a home win against Vasco da Gama and they managed a 3-1 victory to leave them 2 points off the pace in 3rd position with two games of the season remaining.
In the fight for the last Copa Libertadores qualification position Grêmio leapfrogged Atlético Paranaense into 4th place after beating them 3-1 on Saturday. Botafogo would have been able to take it back with a home win against Internacional but they lost 1-2.
On Saturday Guaraní lost 2-1 away at Flamengo and now only have two remaining games against top 4 sides Grêmio and Fluminense in which to save themselves from relegation. The highlight of the game was a brilliant long range free kick from former Guaraní midfielder Renato Abreu after only 2 minutes.
Atlético Miniero continued their run of good form with a 0-2 away win against Palmeiras to lift themselves well clear of the drop zone and put themselves in with a good chance of qualifying to play in next year's Copa Sudamericana. This is because Brazil get an absurd 8 places in the Copa, meaning that of the 16 teams that remain in the division at the end of the season, 14 of them will qualify for international tournaments. Avaí also built on the momentum of their 2-3 win against Internacional last week with a comprehensive 3-0 victory in their must win tie against 14th placed Atlético Goianiense, moving them out of the relegation zone at the expanse of Vitória.
Grêmio Prudente are already relegated but they still managed a 1-1 draw against Ceará to keep alive their hopes of avoiding a bottom of the table finish. Goiás knew that they would be relegated if they failed to beat Santos and after 11 minutes they had the lead and things were looking good against a team who were without a win in six games, however they conceded the equaliser only 8 minutes later. Late in the 2nd half Santos' wonder kid Neymar hit a 7 minute hat-trick to earn a 1-4 victory for his team and seal the relegation of Goiás in their own stadium.
| 20-11-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Flamengo | 2-1 | Guaraní |
| Grêmio Prudente | 1-1 | Ceará |
| Grêmio | 3-1 | Atlético Paranaense |
| 21-11-10 | ||
| São Paulo | 1-4 | Fluminense |
| Palmeiras | 0-2 | Atlético Mineiro |
| Botafogo | 1-2 | Internacional |
| Vitória | 1-1 | Corinthians |
| Cruzeiro | 3-1 | Vasco da Gama |
| Goiás | 1-4 | Santos |
| Avaí | 3-0 | Atlético Goianiense |
For more South American football highlights, including the Argentine league, the pick of the rest and international tournaments:
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