RIO DE JANEIRO, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Nacho Fernandez and Ademir Santos scored either side of halftime as Atletico Mineiro secured a 2-0 home win over Flamengo in Brazil's Serie A championship on Sunday.
Fernandez opened the scoring for the reigning champions with a close-range header just after the hour mark and Ademir doubled the lead with a low 12-yard strike five minutes from time.
The result lifted Atletico Mineiro to fourth in the 20-team standings with 21 points from 13 matches, four points behind leader Palmeiras. Flamengo dropped to 14th with 15 points.
In Porto Alegre, 10-man Botafogo recovered from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Internacional 3-2. The visitors suffered an early setback when Philipe Sampaio was shown a straight red card for violent conduct in the seventh minute.
The hosts took full advantage as goals from Edenilson and Fabricio Bustos gave them a 2-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes. But Botafogo refused to surrender, reducing the deficit in the 19th minute courtesy of a strike from Vinicius Lopes.
Erison equalized on the hour mark and Hugo Ferreira completed an improbable victory with a goal in the 111th minute.
In other Brazilian Serie fixtures on Sunday, Fluminense secured a 2-0 home win over Avai, Atletico Goianiense won 3-1 at home to Juventude, Fortaleza prevailed 1-0 at home to America Mineiro, Corinthians won 1-0 at home to Goias and Athletico Paranaense won 1-0 at Coritiba. ■
