Brasileirão round 31: Flamengo win in Salvador, ten-man Palmeiras keep pace and Kaio Jorge scores three

Both leaders won away from home, and the gap at the top is still a point. Palmeiras won 2–0 at Atlético Paranaense on Saturday with ten men for the whole second half, and Flamengo answered on Sunday with a 3–0 win at Bahia, all three goals in the second half, so Flamengo lead 67 to 66 with seven rounds left. Cruzeiro came from behind to win 4–2 at Grêmio with a hat-trick from Kaio Jorge and move up to fourth, and Corinthians ended a run of eight league defeats with a 1–1 draw against Vitória. Round 31 brought 23 goals in ten matches: four home wins, four away wins and two draws, with three red cards.

Friday

Mirassol 2–0 Internacional turned on a red card on 15. Internacional's goalkeeper Matheus Cunha left his area to stop a counter-attack and fouled Bruno Santos outside it, the club's own report says, and was sent off. Mirassol scored early in the second half through Eduardo, from Edson Carioca's pass, on 48, and André Luis, from Fernandinho's, made it 2–0 on 87. Reinaldo missed a penalty on 90+2, hitting the crossbar according to Internacional's report; he had also missed one against Bahia a round earlier. Mirassol had 24 shots to thirteen.

Saturday

Botafogo 1–0 Chapecoense was settled on 7 by Tiquinho Soares, from Matheus Martins's pass. Botafogo put twelve of their 21 shots on target; Chapecoense had nine shots and none on target.

Atlético-MG 1–0 Coritiba at the Arena MRV was won by Igor Gomes, from Natanael's pass, on 78. Atlético-MG had 22 shots, ten on target, and ten corners, and are unbeaten in six league matches. Coritiba have not won in six.

Atlético Paranaense 0–2 Palmeiras was decided in the first ten minutes. Maurício, from José Manuel López's pass, scored on 6 and Joaquín Piquerez added the second on 10. Andreas Pereira, booked on 22, was sent off on 43: Lance reports that he kicked a second ball that was on the pitch towards the match ball, and was shown a second yellow card. Atlético Paranaense then had 64 per cent of the ball, 24 shots and sixteen corners to one, but put only six shots on target. Andreas Pereira will miss the next league match, against RB Bragantino, Lance adds. It was Atlético Paranaense's second home defeat in sixteen league matches.

São Paulo 1–0 Vasco da Gama, which kicked off at midnight UTC, was won by Artur, from Pedro Lima's pass, on 68. Vasco da Gama had 60 per cent of the ball, but each side managed only two shots on target. São Paulo have won two in a row and ten of sixteen at home.

Sunday

Fluminense 1–2 Santos at the Maracanã turned after the break. Rodrigo Castillo, from Igor Rabello's pass, put Fluminense ahead on 4, but Gabriel Barbosa, from Rodinei's pass, equalised on 49 and Philippe Coutinho, from Gabriel Bontempo's, won it on 54. Santos had seventeen shots to eight. Fluminense have lost two in a row and drop to fifth.

Grêmio 2–4 Cruzeiro had six goals and a comeback. Carlos Vinícius put Grêmio ahead from the penalty spot on 17, and Kaio Jorge, from Matheus Pereira's pass, equalised on 23. Cristian Pavón restored Grêmio's lead on 41, before Kaio Jorge scored on 48 and again on 61, from William's pass, to complete his hat-trick. Walter Kannemann was sent off on 73, and João Marcelo, from Gerson's pass, made it 4–2 on 80. Grêmio have now gone seven league matches without a win.

Bahia 0–3 Flamengo was goalless at half-time. Jorginho scored a penalty on 64 after, Flamengo's site says, Marco Moreno brought down Jorge Carrascal; Lance notes that all nine of Jorginho's goals for the club have been penalties. Gonzalo Plata, from Samuel Lino's pass, headed the second on 73, and Lucas Paquetá, from Guillermo Varela's, made it 3–0 on 78. Flamengo had fifteen shots on target to Bahia's three and fourteen corners to four. It was Bahia's first home league defeat in nine matches, and Flamengo are unbeaten in eight league matches.

Remo 1–1 RB Bragantino at the Evandro Almeida: Lucas Barbosa scored for RB Bragantino on 10, and the VAR ruled out a second for them on 36. Jája Silva, from Gabriel Taliari's pass, equalised for Remo on 55. Remo had 25 shots and fourteen corners, but have not won in eleven league matches.

Monday

Corinthians 1–1 Vitória was Corinthians' first match since they hired Clarence Seedorf to replace Fernando Diniz. Lance reports that Seedorf, whose name had not yet appeared in the CBF's daily bulletin, watched from the stands, and that the assistant coach led the team. Renê scored for Vitória on 45+1. The VAR confirmed a penalty for a foul on André on 62, and Yuri Alberto scored it on 66. Corinthians had 68 per cent of the ball and twenty shots to five; all five of Vitória's were on target. The draw ends Corinthians' run of eight league defeats, but they have gone nine without a win, and Vitória have won none of sixteen away.

The table

Flamengo lead Palmeiras by a point, 67 to 66, as they did a round ago. Atlético Paranaense stay third on 53, fourteen points off the lead, and Cruzeiro move up to fourth on 51, level on points with Fluminense. At the bottom Chapecoense have eighteen and Remo 26; Grêmio have 31 and Internacional 32, with Corinthians a point above them in sixteenth. Vasco da Gama and Chapecoense have a game in hand, their postponed round 21 match against each other.

#	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Flamengo	31	20	7	4	+36	67
2	Palmeiras	31	19	9	3	+32	66
3	Atlético Paranaense	31	15	8	8	+12	53
4	Cruzeiro	31	15	6	10	+4	51
5	Fluminense	31	14	9	8	+10	51
6	Atlético-MG	31	14	8	9	+7	50
7	Bahia	31	13	10	8	+5	49
8	Santos	31	12	9	10	+2	45
9	São Paulo	31	12	6	13	+1	42
10	RB Bragantino	31	11	8	12	+3	41
11	Botafogo	31	10	9	12	−4	39
12	Coritiba	31	10	9	12	−11	39
13	Vitória	31	10	7	14	−11	37
14	Mirassol	31	9	9	13	−8	36
15	Vasco da Gama	30	9	8	13	−7	35
16	Corinthians	31	8	9	14	−7	33
17	Internacional	31	7	11	13	−7	32
18	Grêmio	31	7	10	14	−10	31
19	Remo	31	5	11	15	−15	26
20	Chapecoense	30	3	9	18	−32	18

The points race shows a title for two: Flamengo and Palmeiras have been three points apart or closer since matchday 22, and the gap to third-placed Atlético Paranaense is now fourteen. Cruzeiro have taken nine points from their last four rounds to reach 51.

Numbers to know

• 23 goals in ten matches; four home wins, four away wins and two draws.
• Three red cards, for Matheus Cunha of Internacional, Andreas Pereira of Palmeiras and Walter Kannemann of Grêmio; three penalties scored and one missed, by Reinaldo of Mirassol, his second miss in two rounds.
• Kaio Jorge's hat-trick takes him to eleven league goals, level with Carlos Vinícius of Grêmio; Gabriel Barbosa of Santos has fifteen.
• Chapecoense had no shot on target at the Nilton Santos; Botafogo had twelve.
• Remo have gone eleven league matches without a win, Corinthians nine and Grêmio seven.

Next up

Round 32 begins on Friday 23 October with Cruzeiro v Remo at 23:00 UTC. On Saturday Internacional v Botafogo, Mirassol v São Paulo and Vitória v Atlético Paranaense kick off at 19:30 UTC, Palmeiras v RB Bragantino and Vasco da Gama v Corinthians at 21:30 and Chapecoense v Fluminense at 22:30, and Santos v Bahia follows at 00:00 UTC on Sunday. Coritiba v Grêmio at 22:30 UTC and Flamengo v Atlético-MG at 23:00 close the round on Monday 26 October. The full round is on the Brasileirão page.

Sources for the context: Flamengo, Internacional, Lance, Lance, Lance.