Five off at Cruzeiro match as referees stay in spotlight

RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Rocked by a bribery scandal, Brazilian referees remained firmly in the spotlight on Sunday when five players were sent off and two controversial goals awarded in Cruzeiro's 3-2 win over Ponte Preta.

All eyes were on the officials at the weekend after referee Edilson Pereira de Carvalho, who has taken part in 11 matches this season, was arrested on Saturday morning under suspicion of taking bribes from a gambling ring.

Brazil's sporting tribunal said that up to eight of the games refereed by Carvalho may have to be replayed.

'You could see that the referees were worried,' Palmeiras coach Emerson Leao said after his team beat Goias 3-1.

Ponte Preta were leading Cruzeiro 2-1 with half an hour left before two decisions turned the match on its head.

Cruzeiro levelled in the 69th minute when Kelly converted a penalty following a foul which Ponte Preta claimed happened outside the penalty area.

Seven minutes later, Alecsandro scored with winner from a rebound as Ponte players claimed the ball hit his arm.

The red cards began in the 29th minute when Ponte defender Preto was dismissed for a bad challenge and continued in first-half injury time when Cruzeiro had Chilean international Claudio Maldonado dismissed for another rough tackle.

Ponte midfielder Romeu went for a second bookable offence early in the second half and was followed by Ze Carlos (Ponte) and Moises (Cruzeiro) for fighting in the 73rd minute.

CLEAR CONSCIENCE

'The supporters are on edge because of what happened but my conscience is clear,' referee Heber Lopes said.

'The referee doesn't have the television replay to help make decisions.'

There was also trouble at the goalless draw between Juventude and Botafogo.

Juventude had Enilton sent off for elbowing and he was followed by their former Brazil and Jamaica coach Sebastiao Lazaroni for protesting the decision.

Meanwhile, Botafogo defender Scheidt was also dismissed.

Leaders Internacional, who have 51 points from 28 gmes, drew 1-1 at Atletico Mineiro to stay top but their lead was cut to one point over Corinthians and Fluminense, who both won.

Argentine forward Carlos Tevez, returning after a three-match suspension, scored twice in the second half as Corinthians won 3-1 away at Flamengo in a meeting of the country's most popular clubs.

'Carlitos' took his tally to eleven goals with a close-range volley followed by a breakaway goal while Flamengo, 18th in the 22-team table, remained dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Flamengo president Marcio Braga said before the match that relegation should be scrapped this year because of the match-fixing scandal.

Three spectacular late goals from Serbian midfielder Dejan Petkovic, midfielder Leandro and fullback Gabriel gave Fluminense a stunning 4-3 win over defending champions Santos, who led 2-0 early in the game.

Petkovic made it 2-2 with a 25-metre rocket and, although Basilio put Santos back in front, Leandro lobbed in the equaliser from outside the box and Gabriel finished off a slick move which sliced through the Santos defence in the fourth minute of injury time.

'After this moment or pain, we showed that people should put more emphasis on the players,' Fluminense coach Abel Braga said.

'This was a monstrous game.'