RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Former Real Madrid and Real Sociedad forward Willian Jose scored in the first half as Bahia rose to fifth in Brazil's Serie A on Wednesday with a 1-0 home win over Internacional.
Willian Jose put Bahia ahead on the stroke of halftime, scoring at the third attempt after his penalty was saved by goalkeeper Ivan and the rebound struck the crossbar.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 72nd minute when left-back Alisson was shown a straight red card for a dangerous challenge on Rodrigo Nestor.
The hosts controlled the match thereafter to cruise to their third win in their past four games.
The result lifted Bahia to 49 points, 14 ahead of 14th-placed Internacional with nine matchdays remaining in the season. ■
