Rio de Janeiro, Aug 13 (IANS): Flamengo struck three first-half goals to defeat 10-man Atletico Paranaense 3-2 in Brazil's Serie A championship.

The result in Wednesday's match at the Maracana stadium lifted Flamengo to 11th in the standings with 23 points while Atletico Paranaense dropped to seventh, reported Xinhua news agency.

Wallace, Emerson Sheik and Alan Patrick scored for the hosts, whose first-half dominance was only fleetingly halted by Hernani's 25th-minute header for Atletico.

Kadu reduced the deficit just after the hour mark for the visitors, but they were reduced to 10 men minutes later when Hernani was shown his second yellow card for a bad foul.

In Florianopolis, former AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato was on target in Sao Paulo's 2-0 victory over Figueirense.

The victory took Sao Paulo to third in the standings, six points behind leaders Corinthians, who needed a late goal from Jadson to see off Sport 4-3.

In other matches on Wednesday, Coritiba defeated Palmeiras 2-1, Chapecoense held Goias 0-0, Santos overcame Vasco da Gama 1-0 and Internacional beat Fluminense 1-0.