09/08/2009
Adriano gives Flamengo win over Corinthians
Adriano scored his 10th goal of the season to give Flamengo a 1-0 win over
Corinthians and become the Brazilian league's leading scorer on Sunday.
Adriano scored the winner at Maracana stadium with a left-footed strike from
inside the area, picking up the ball near the penalty spot and firing a low
shot into the far corner.
It was the second goal in as many matches for the former Inter Milan striker,
who also got on the board in Flamengo's 3-2 loss at Goias last Wednesday.
Adriano leads all scorers even though he only debuted with Flamengo in the
fourth round.
The victory moved Brazil's most popular club to seventh place in the 20-team
standings with 27 points from 18 matches. Corinthians, still without injured
striker Ronaldo and winless in five matches, dropped to 10th place with 25
points. Brazil's second most popular team, Corinthians has been struggling
since Ronaldo broke his hand in a July 26 match. He is expected to remain
sidelined until September.
Corinthians rival Palmeiras leads the tournament with 35 points. The
four-time national champion won't play its 18th-round match until Wednesday
against third-place Atletico Mineiro in Belo Horizonte.
Also Sunday, Flamengo rival Fluminense remained in the relegation zone after
a 2-2 draw with Vitoria in Salvador.
Vitoria opened the scoring with midfielder Willian in the 15th, but
Fluminense - still without injured striker Fred - rallied with goals by
defender Luiz Alberto in the 29th and striker Roni in the 53rd.
Forward Roger scored Vitoria's equalizer in the 55th, moving his team to
ninth place with 25 points and leaving Fluminense in second-to-last with
only 15 points. The bottom four clubs will be demoted.
On Saturday, two-time champion Santos relinquished a two-goal lead in a 2-2
draw against Avai at Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos.
The result kept alive Avai's eight-match unbeaten streak and helped it reach
fifth place in the standings with 27 points. Santos is 12th with 24 points.
Botafogo dropped to 14th after a disappointing 1-0 loss to Atletico
Paranaense at Engenhao stadium in Rio de Janeiro. It was the third victory
in a row for Atletico, which now is safely out of the relegation zone in
13th place.
Another team which gained some breathing room at the bottom of the standings
on Saturday was Nautico, which beat Santo Andre 2-1 at Aflitos stadium in
Recife to win its second in a row and reach 16th position.
