By Brian Homewood
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 17 - The Brazilian
championship claimed two more coaching victims at the weekend
as Paulo Bonamigo left Palmeiras and Paulo Campos parted
company with Paysandu after their teams lost home matches.
Vasco da Gama's Dario Lourenco is expected to join the
casualty list after 1-0 defeat to arch-rivals Flamengo left his
team mired in the relegation zone.
Bonamigo became the third coach this year to leave former
South American champions Palmeiras when he announced his
resignation in the changing room after a 2-1 home defeat by
Fortaleza.
Lucio scored an 89th minute winner for Fortaleza to leave
Palmeiras 16th in the 22-team table.
Bonamigo, who had been in charge for only 16 matches after
replacing Candinho, was insulted throughout the second half by
Palmeiras supporters.
Paulo Campos also fell victim to fan pressure after
Paysandu were beaten 2-1 by Cruzeiro, their second successive
home defeat.
His departure came as a group of angry Paysandu fans
attempted to break into the dressing-room but were stopped by
police.
The competition has already claimed 11 coaching victims in
only 12 rounds of matches.
Rank outsiders Ponte Preta, who have 26 points, remained
top of the table after coming from behind to beat Figueirense
2-1.
The leaders are one point ahead of Internacional, who
thumped Juventude 5-2.
Santos moved into third when 18-year-old full-back
Carlinhos scored a last-minute winner to give them a 2-1 win
over Sao Paulo, who won the South American Libertadores Cup
last Thursday.
Sao Paulo, who have been fielding a reserve team in
domestic fixtures, dropped to 15th in the table.
Midfielder Souza scored a spectacular long-range goal as
Flamengo, who claim to be Brazil's most popular club, beat
Vasco da Gama 1-0 to climb out of the relegation zone.
Flamengo are 17th with 12 points while Vasco, who have
nine, dropped to 21st.
Argentina forward Carlos Tevez produced an inspired
display, which included his team's second goal, as Corinthians
won 3-2 at Parana to move up to fifth.