RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Santiago Rodriguez scored in the second half as 10-man Botafogo snapped a three-game winless run with a 1-0 home victory over Atletico Mineiro in Brazil's Serie A on Saturday.
The hosts suffered a blow just before halftime when Spanish forward Chris Ramos was shown a straight red card for an ugly challenge on Igor Gomes.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Brazil's reigning top-flight champions took the lead just after the interval through Rodriguez, who latched onto Alvaro Montoro's cross with a header into the top-left corner.
The result marked Botafogo's first win since August 30 and leaves the club fourth in the 20-team standings with 39 points, 14 ahead of 13th-placed Atletico Mineiro.
"This win was very important," Botafogo manager Davide Ancelotti said. "We deserved these three points. We went through a difficult period, but the players have never stopped working. Today we had a different attitude. We defended solidly and were able to get through difficult moments unscathed."
In other Brazilian Serie A fixtures on Saturday, Palmeiras cruised to a 4-1 home win over Fortaleza, Bahia drew 1-1 at Ceara and Fluminense prevailed 1-0 at Vitoria. ■
