RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct. 8-- In the 28th round of the 2011 Brazilian Championship, Botafogo battled to a 2-2 draw against Bahia on Saturday, Coritiba cooled Gremio's winning-streak with a 2-0 win and America-MG and Atletico-MG struggled to a scoreless draw. The round's first day saw a 3-3 draw between Cruzeiro and Sao Paulo on October 5. Bahia's head coach Joel Santana was formerly the head coach of Botafogo, making for additional fanfare in Saturday's match. Santana's team scored first in the 28th minute when Marcos lofted the ball across the front of the goal where Souza freely tapped it into the back of the goal. Returning to the second half, Botafogo reacted quickly and took the lead with two goals within two minutes. The tying goal came in the 55th minute when Elkeson centered the ball to a wide-open Alex who easily tapped the ball into goal. Immediately after, the home team claimed the lead in the 57th minute when Caio followed up a Elkeson shot-on-goal, slipping the ball past a diving keeper Marcelo Lombo. Botafogo ceded the draw off a silly defensive error by Marcelo Mattos, called for holding the jersey of Fahel inside of the penalty box. Souza commanded the penalty kick and converted by lightly driving the ball into the center of goal while reserve keeper Renan dove helplessly to the left. The result was beneficial to neither team as Botafogo remains in fourth place with 46 points, but stands at risk of dropping into fifth place if there is a winner between fifth place Fluminense and sixth place Flamengo in tomorrow's cross-town showdown. Bahia remains firm in 14th place with 34 points. |