RIO DE JANEIRO, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Defending champions Palmeiras scored twice in each half to consolidate their place at the top of the Brazilian Serie A standings with a 4-0 home victory over Santos on Saturday.

Gustavo Gomez and Deyverson netted in the first 20 minutes before Raphael Veiga and Hyoran Dalmoro also found the target after the interval at the Pacaembu stadium.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's men now have 13 points, having won four and drawn one of their five matches so far.

Atletico Mineiro are just one point behind in second place after beating Flamengo 2-1 at their Independencia stadium earlier on Saturday, despite playing the entire second half with 10 men.

Juan Cazares gave Atletico an early lead but Bruno Henrique equalized three minutes later. Former Brazil international midfielder Elias was then shown a straight red card for a bad foul on Leonardo Silva in first-half stoppage time.

However Colombian forward Yimmi Chara extended the hosts' lead after the restart and Atletico defended stubbornly thereafter to secure their fourth win from five matches.

In Saturday's only other fixture, Joao Pedro came off the bench to score twice in the last 15 minutes as Fluminense won 4-1 at home to Cruzeiro.