Porto Alegre International, led by Argentine coach Eduardo Coudet, confirmed his position as leader of the Brazilian Championship on Thursday by beating Ceará 2-0 at home, with two goals from attacker Thiago Galhardo.
In a match played at the Beira-Rio stadium for the ninth day of the competition, the current top scorer in the Brazilian league opened the scoring in the 43rd minute with a precise shot at the opponent's goal.
In an inspired night of total dominance by the hosts, Thiago Galhardo scored again in the 75th minute and guaranteed the victory of the Colorado club, which was confirmed in the first box of the table with 20 points, three more than the second classified, the Flamengo.
Ceará, meanwhile, is still in the middle of the table and kept the whole 10.
Already in the match played in Sao Paulo, Palmeiras, the only undefeated club in the “Brasileirao”, won the victory over Corinthians away from home and won 0-2.
Luiz Adriano scored the first goal for the team led by Vanderlei Luxemburg from a penalty, following the expulsion of rival Fagner for touching the ball with his hand and paralyzing the play.
Forward Gabriel Veron took advantage of “Verdao's” numerical advantage on the pitch, expanded the score in the second half and secured Palmeiras' first win against Corinthians in two years.
The São Paulo derby also suffered a second expulsion, also for Corinthians, after defender Danilo Avelar committed a hard foul and received his second yellow card in the match.
With the result, Palmeiras reached 16 integers, while Corinthians counted nine.
For its part, the Porto Alegre Gremio won 0-2 in a visit to Bahia and, despite being a visitor, dominated the game from start to finish.
The first goal came from the feet of midfielder Alisson in the first half of the match, while midfielder Darlan scored the second right after half-time.
With the victory, the Gremio ended a streak of six games without winning and continues to float in the middle of the table, with 11 points, while Bahia has two less.