RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Santos secured their third straight victory and kept the pressure on leaders Flamengo by beating Palmeiras 2-0 in Brazil's Serie A championship on Wednesday.
Gustavo Henrique opened the scoring for the hosts with a 14th-minute strike and Marinho made it 2-0 three minutes later at the Vila Belmiro stadium.
Santos defended resolutely thereafter to secure their 14th win from 24 matches and usurp Palmeiras in second place, five points behind leaders Flamengo.
In Porto Alegre, Gremio struck two first-half goals to secure a 2-1 home win over Ceara. Pedro Geromel and Maicon Souza were on target for the hosts while Fabio Goncalves struck for Ceara.
The result saw Gremio move to seventh in the standings with 10 wins, eight draws and six losses.
In other matches on Wednesday, CSA beat Internacional 1-0, Botafogo overcame Goias 3-1, Fortaleza defeated Chapecoense 2-0 and Bahia drew 0-0 with Sao Paulo.
