Sao Paulo, which drew 1-1 with Gremio earlier in the week despite having three players sent off, has 59 points. Palmeiras has 58 after having been in front for the last 19 rounds.

Third-place Flamengo moved to within two points of the lead after winning 3-1 at Atletico Mineiro, which is fourth with 56 points.

Former Lyon striker Fred scored Fluminense's winner with a header in the 59th minute from a corner taken by Argentine midfielder Dario Conca in front of more than 60,000 fans at Maracana stadium.

The goal gave Fluminense its third straight victory, keeping alive the team's hopes of escaping demotion. Unbeaten in eight matches, Fluminense is 17th in the 20-team standings, still in the relegation zone but with a good chance of staying in the top flight.

Palmeiras striker Obina found the net in the 28th, but the referee disallowed the goal for Obina fouling a defender. Palmeiras strongly complained, and television replays appeared to show there was no wrongdoing in the play.

Seeking its first national title since 1994, Palmeiras has won only once in its last seven matches. It had been on top of the standings since beating Fluminense 1-0 at home on July 29.

Sao Paulo earned a 1-1 draw with Gremio on Wednesday despite finishing the match with eight men.

Strikers Borges and Dagoberto were sent off for hard fouls with about 10 minutes left in the match at Olimpico stadium in Porto Alegre, and defender Jean was red-carded in injury time.

The result snapped a three-match winning streak for Sao Paulo, which is seeking its fourth straight Brazilian league title and seventh overall.

Flamengo became a serious title contender on Sunday after beating Atletico Mineiro in front of nearly 65,000 fans at Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte.

Serbian midfielder Dejan Petkovic scored first for Flamengo when his corner went directly into the net in the ninth minute, and Chile midfielder Claudio Maldonado added to the lead with a low right-footed shot from inside the area in the 39th.

Brazil World Cup veteran Ricardinho scored for Atletico in the 50th. But striker Adriano _ one of the league's leading scorer with 18 goals _ sealed the victory with a header in the 81st.

In Sao Paulo, veteran striker Ronaldo scored his third goal in two matches to give Corinthians a 2-0 win over Santo Andre at Pacaembu stadium. He beat a defender outside the area before firing a shot into the top corner of the net in the 36th. Striker Dentinho also scored for Corinthians, which moved to eighth in the standings.

In other results Sunday, sixth-place Internacional drew 1-1 at Barueri, Botafogo beat Coritiba 2-0 at Engenhao stadium in Rio de Janeiro and Goias fell 2-0 to Atletico Paranaense to extend its winless streak to eight matches.

On Saturday, fifth-place Cruzeiro kept its title hopes alive by rallying from a two-goal deficit to beat last-place Sport 3-2 at Ilha do Retiro stadium in Recife. Ecuadorean striker Joffre Guerron scored Cruzeiro's winner.

Also, Santos beat Nautico 3-1 at Pacaembu stadium and Avai defeated Vitoria 1-0 in Salvador.