RIO DE JANEIRO, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Fluminense continued its impressive start to Brazil's Serie A season on Wednesday with a 3-1 home victory over 10-man Corinthians.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Colombian forward Kevin Serna forced a turnover and released John Kennedy, who rounded goalkeeper Kaue before rolling the ball into an empty net.
Hercules doubled his side's advantage just before halftime with a clinical finish from 12 yards after Serna's shot rebounded off the far post.
Corinthians was reduced to 10 men early in the second half after midfielder Allan Rodrigues was shown a second yellow card for unruly conduct.
Fluminense was in cruise control and Argentine forward Rodrigo Castillo made it 3-0 with an angled finish after Matheus Martinelli's cross from the right wing. Andre then pulled a goal back for the visitors by pouncing on a loose ball and rifling a low effort past goalkeeper Fabio.
The result at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium leaves Fluminense second in the 20-team standings with 19 points, trailing Palmeiras on goal difference. Corinthians is 11th, nine points further back.
Elsewhere, former Manchester United defender Alex Telles scored a first-half penalty as Botafogo edged to a 3-2 home win over Mirassol.
Arthur Cabral and Junior Santos were on target for the hosts while Shaylon and Igor Formiga scored for Mirassol.
In other Brazilian top-flight fixtures on Wednesday, Vasco da Gama drew 1-1 at Coritiba, Bahia cruised to a 3-0 home win over Athletico Paranaense, Cruzeiro romped to a 3-0 home win over Vitoria and Sao Paulo drew 1-1 at Internacional. ■
