Ronaldo held scoreless in return to Corinthians

SAO PAULO (AP) -Ronaldo was held scoreless and his Corinthians lineup went down 4-1 at home to Goias on Sunday in his first match back in the Brazilian league after almost two months on the sidelines with a broken hand.

Ronaldo's former Brazil teammate Adriano scored in Flamengo's 3-0 win over Coritiba to become the competition's joint leading scorer in other matches Sunday, while defending champion Sao Paulo was held to a 1-1 draw by Santo Andre, missing a chance to take sole possession of first place.

Sao Paulo and Palmeiras have 44 points apiece. Palmeiras will face Cruzeiro on Wednesday.

Third-place Internacional also could have reached first place, but it lost 3-2 to Vitoria on Saturday and remained on 43 points.

Former Boca Juniors midfielder Iarley opened the scoring for Goias in the seventh minute at Pacaembu stadium and Fernandao added to the lead in the 23rd. Iarley scored again in the 51st and defender Joao Paulo sealed the victory in the 80th.

Ronaldo contributed to Corinthians' lone goal in the 74th. His free kick struck the crossbar and striker Dentinho found the net from the rebound.

Nearly 35,000 fans packed Pacaembu to watch the return of Ronaldo, who came into the match saying he wants to show he can still play in the Brazilian national team.

Two days short of his 33rd birthday, Ronaldo failed to threaten much after missing 10 matches because of a broken left hand. He hadn't played since a 3-0 loss to Palmeiras on July 26, when he was injured only 20 minutes into the match after falling awkwardly.

Ronaldo was initially going to miss about a month, but his recovery took longer than doctors expected. He reportedly had weight-reduction surgery while he was hospitalized to repair the hand fractures, a procedure he hasn't denied or confirmed.

Ronaldo had been thriving with Corinthians in his return to football after being sidelined for more than a year because of the third serious knee injury of his career. The three-time world player of the year had scored 17 goals in 27 matches after returning in March.

Ronaldo is the leading goalscorer in World Cup history and helped Brazil win titles in 1994 and 2002. This year he led Corinthians to the traditional Sao Paulo state title and the Brazilian Cup trophy.

The surprising loss at home dropped Corinthians to ninth in the 20-team standings, seven points behind Palmeiras. Goias improved to fourth and is only two points off the lead.

At Maracana stadium, Adriano scored his third goal in two matches to help Flamengo beat Coritiba in front of a crowd of more than 50,000. He found the net with a remarkable shot over goalkeeper Edson Bastos in a breakaway in the 56th, reaching 13 goals and joining Gremio forward Jonas as the competition's leading scorers.

Serbian midfielder Dejan Petkovic also scored for Flamengo, which hasn't lost in five matches and moved to eighth in the standings.

Six-time champion Sao Paulo could've reached first place with a victory against Santo Andre in Ribeirao Preto.

Defender Jean put Sao Paulo ahead in the seventh minute, but Bolivia striker Pablo Escobar equalized for Santo Andre in the 73rd to keep the titleholders from winning its third match in a row.

Santo Andre, coming off three straight losses, is only 17th in the standings, in the relegation zone.

Gremio jumped to sixth place by routing Fluminense 5-1 behind two goals by midfielder Souza at Olimpico stadium in Porto Alegre, keeping alive a five-match unbeaten streak.

Fluminense had a chance to leave last place with a victory, but the result kept the traditional Rio de Janeiro club in serious danger of being relegated to the second division. Winless in 10 matches, it has only 18 points from 25 matches.

In other results Sunday, 18th-place Botafogo - winless in 10 Brazilian league matches - had a scoreless draw at Santos 0-0, while seventh-place Avai defeated Barueri 4-0 in Florianopolis.

On Saturday, Atletico Mineiro failed to get past a 0-0 draw with Nautico in Recife, dropping to fifth in the standings. Midfielder Marcinho scored in the second minute and Atletico Paranaense beat next-to-last Sport 1-0 at Arena da Baixada stadium in Curitiba.

America beat ASA 1-0 in Belo Horizonte to clinch the third-division title and secure a spot in the second division next year, along with Guaratingueta and Icasa.