SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Sao Paulo took a big step towards securing their top flight status for another year when they beat Palmeiras 2-0 in Brazil’s Serie A on Wednesday.
The result lifted the club into 14th place on 41 points, five clear of the relegation zone with five matches remaining.
Palmeiras remain third with 58 points, 13 behind league leaders Atletico Mineiro.
Palmeiras fielded several second-string players and rested some regular starters ahead of their Copa Libertadores final versus Flamengo on Nov. 27.
They fell behind after 24 minutes when Gabriel Sara curled a fine shot into the far corner of the net from 25 meters out.
Luciano Neves made it two 16 minutes into the second half when he took advantage of a mistake by Patrick de Paula to seize possession and fire home from the edge of the penalty box.
(Reporting by Andrew Downie; editing by Richard Pullin)
