Henrique double sees Flamengo past Fortaleza

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 23 (Xinhua) -- A first-half brace from Bruno Henrique gave defending champions Flamengo a 2-1 home victory over Fortaleza in their Brazilian Serie A clash on Wednesday.

The former Wolfsburg and Santos forward opened the scoring in the 21st minute when he dispossessed Felipe Rodriguez before firing a low shot beyond the reach of goalkeeper Felipe Alves.

He scored against just before time with a driving run into the box and another nerveless finish following a counterattack.

Fortaleza reduced the deficit through a David Fonseca strike just after the restart but the hosts held on to secure their third win in four outings.

The Rio de Janeiro giants are now seventh in the 20-team standings, five points behind leaders Bragantino, who have benefitted from two more matches.

Fortaleza are three points off the pace, having played the same number of games as Bragantino.

In other Brazilian Serie A fixtures on Wednesday, Atletico Goianiense won 1-0 at home to Fluminense, Cuiaba drew 2-2 at Sao Paulo and Bragantino secured a 3-1 home win over Palmeiras. Enditem