Two-goal Edmundo sinks Flamengo
RIO DE JANEIRO, May 13 (Reuters) - Former Brazil striker Edmundo scored twice to give Palmeiras a 4-2 win at Flamengo as the Brazilian championship got off to a high-scoring start on Sunday.
The weekend's 10 matches produced 33 goals but the impressive tally was not matched by the attendances, with only 7,000 watching Flamengo at the huge Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Palmeiras raced to a 2-0 lead with goals from Edmundo, 36, and Osmar but Flamengo hit back as midfielders Claiton and Renato Augusto scored either side of halftime. Palmeiras took the points as Paraguayan striker Derlis Florentin and Edmundo struck again in the last 20 minutes. Defending champions Sao Paulo beat Goias 2-0, with goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni scoring their second from a trademark free kick after new signing Jorge Wagner had opened the scoring. The match was played behind closed doors at the Morumbi because of crowd trouble in Sao Paulo's final home game of last season. The highest-scoring game was at Figueirense, where Atletico Paranaense won 6-3 with strikers Pedro Oldone and Alex Mineiro scoring twice each. World club champions Internacional, already out of the Libertadores Cup, continued a miserable season by losing 3-2 at home to Botafogo. Teeager Alexandre Pato put Internacional ahead but the visitors replied with one goal from Juninho and two from Andre Lima. Christian pulled one back for the hosts but Botafogo held on despite having Alex sent off for a second bookable offence. Santos, who began as title favourites, sent a reserve team to newly promoted Sport Recife and lost 4-1. Coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo decided to rest the first-teamers for Wednesday's Libertadores Cup tie away to America in Mexico City. Corinthians, with six new players making their debuts, beat Juventude 1-0 with a first-half goal from Everton.
