Soccer-Corinthians beat Santos with controversial red card key

SAO PAULO, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Santos captain David Braz and Corinthians coach Tite almost came to blows at the side of the pitch on Sunday after Braz was mistakenly sent off in Corinthians 2-0 win. Braz was sent off after a Santos defender hacked down Vagner Love for the penalty that gave top-of-the-table Corinthians the lead after 85 minutes. But it was teammate Zeca who made the intervention and when Braz professed his innocence to Tite on leaving the field the Corinthians coach came towards him wagging a finger. The two men were quickly separated but the game was held up for six minutes while the referee tried to calm both sets of players. "The referee never saw it and said it was Braz," Zeca told TV Globo afterwards, when asked if he should have taken the responsibility. "It's not my fault, (the referee) does what he does." Jadson scored a second goal two minutes from time to guarantee the points for Corinthians and maintain their five-point lead at the head of the Serie A. Santos substitute Werley, who never entered the field of play, was sent off before half time after he pushed the fourth official in the back. Second-place Atletico Mineiro also won, beating Flamengo 4-1. Palmeiras moved up two places into fourth by beating third-place Gremio 3-2. The Corinthians-Santos game and Goias 3-0 win over Joinville kicked off at 11 am in sweltering temperatures. Several Brazilian matches have been switched to early kick offs this season as part of an experiment and fans have turned out in numbers to see the games. But players have complained of the heat, with the mercury reaching at least 30 C when the games kick off. Both matches were halted for water breaks. Fluminense are also feeling the heat after their seventh loss in eight games saw them drop to 12th place. They went to Ponte Preta and were easily beaten 3-1. Their city rivals Vasco da Gama won for the third time in four matches to move off the bottom spot for the first time in months. (Writing by Andrew Downie; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)