RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Midfielder Raphael Veiga struck a first-half winner as Palmeiras kept alive their hopes of back-to-back Brazilian Serie A titles with a 1-0 home victory over Bahia on Saturday.
Veiga put the hosts ahead when he capitalized on some chaotic defending against a Palmeiras counterattack and rifled a low finish from 17 yards into the bottom-right corner.
Bahia were forced to play the last five minutes of the game with only 10 men after Nicolas Acevedo was shown a second yellow card for a bad foul on forward Artur Guimaraes.
The result leaves Palmeiras second in the 20-team standings, six points behind leaders Botafogo, who have two games in hand. Bahia are 15th with 34 points, just three points clear of the relegation zone.
In other Brazilian Serie A fixtures on Saturday, Gremio won 4-3 at America Mineiro and Atletico Mineiro secured a 2-0 home win over Fluminense. ■
