Brazilian Serie A wrap: Coritiba edge Santos, Corinthians survive scare

Coritiba twice came from a goal down to beat nine-man Santos 3-2 in the Brazilian Serie A on Wednesday.

Borges opened the scoring after just four minutes for the hosts at Estadio Urbano Caldeira, before Jeci equalised for Marcelo Oliveira’s side midway through the first half to make it 1-1 at the break.

Santos went ahead again 11 minutes after the interval when Borges scored his second, but Coritiba replied within 10 minutes via Marcos Aurelio.

Santos’ Para was sent off with a quarter of an hour remaining, and Coritiba utilised their numerical advantage to good effect, with Leo Gago netting the winner in the 87th minute.

The result sees eight-time Brazilian champions Santos continue to loiter in the relegation zone.

Elsewhere, Corinthians moved level on points with Flamengo atop the table after struggling past lowly Atletico Mineiro 3-2.

Hosts Atletico took a stunning 2-0 lead after 27 minutes at the Estadio Joao Lamego Neto, threatening to cause one of the season’s biggest upsets.

But Corinthians fought back admirably, with second-half goals from Emerson, Alex and Liedson sealinig the win. Atletico were forced to defend with just 10 men for most of the last 45 minutes after Rever was shown red on 52 minutes.

Vasco da Gama shot to within a point of the league-leaders with a 2-0 away win over Avai, courtesy of goals either side of the break to Diego Souza and Dede.

In other matches, Internacional accounted for Botafogo 1-0, Fluminense thrashed Figuirense 3-0, Ceara beat Gremio by the same scoreline, and Atletico PR edged a late 2-1 win over Cruzeiro.