Campeonato Paulista wrap: Santos, Palmeiras go clear

Both Santos and Palmeiras recorded victories as they created some breathing space ahead of the chasing pack in the Campeonato Paulista.

With four sides locked on 25 points heading into the weekend’s matches, Santos and Palmeiras took advantage of playing on Saturday and moved three points ahead of Sao Paulo and Corinthians with their home wins.

Santos were expected to beat relegation-threatened Botafogo SP and did so, although they suffered a late scare in their 2-1 triumph.

Elano scored just after half-time to give the victors the lead and nine minutes later substitute Paulo Henrique Ganso doubled Santos’ lead and looked to have wrapped up the victory.

But the visitors would not lie down and grabbed a goal back on 89 minutes through Chicao, before Fernando Miguel, who had only been on the pitch for 31 minutes, was given a straight red card in the dying stages of a feisty clash.

Palmeiras’ victory was far more straight-forward, as first-half goals to Danilo and Patrick gave them a 2-0 win over Sao Bernardo.

In other matches, Ricardo Jesus’ 71st minute strike salvaged a point for fifth-placed Ponte Preta in their 1-1 draw against Gremio Prudente while Linense moved away from the bottom of the table with a 2-0 home win against Noroeste, thanks to goals from Eder Baiano and Pedrao.

In a clash of two mid-table sides, Sao Caetano claimed a valuable away win at Mogi Mirim, with Eduardo’s 59th minute goal securing all three points for the visitors in a 2-1 scoreline.