Rio de Janeiro, May 30 (IANS): Tragedy-hit Associação Chapecoense de Futebol have risen to the top of the standings in Brazil's Serie A football league with a 2-0 home victory over Avai FC.
Wellington Paulista and Reinaldo struck first-half goals on Monday for the team from southern Brazil, who were forced to rebuild their squad from scratch after 19 of their players were killed in a plane crash last November, reports Xinhua news agency.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men with seven minutes remaining at Conda Arena when Luiz Otavio was shown a second yellow card for a bad tackle.
Three minutes later, Avai's Leandro Silva was also given his marching orders for a second caution after he scythed down Reindaldo.
Chapecoense now lead the 20-team standings with seven points from the first three matches, ahead of Corinthians and Cruzeiro on goal difference.