Football: Cruzeiro top at halfway stage but goals hard to come by

SAO PAULO - Cruzeiro's Marcelo Moreno scored with a sensational scissor kick in the 3-3 draw with Fluminense on Sunday to take his personal tally of the season to 10 and ensure his side finished the first half well clear at the top of Brazil's Serie A.

The reigning champions are currently seven points ahead of Sao Paulo after 19 games, and drew away to fifth-placed Fluminense without four players who were off on international duty.

Moreno's 58th minute goal took him to the top of the first division goal scoring chart, one ahead of his team mate Ricardo Goulart, who was with the Brazil squad. Former Real Madrid midfielder Julio Baptista got Cruzeiro's other two goals.

Sao Paulo moved into second place after beating Sport 2-0. It was their fifth win in a row while fielding the Fab Four of Kaka, Alexandre Pato, Paulo Henrique Ganso and Alan Kardec. Pato scored one and missed a sitter, while the second was an own goal from Rithely.

The Brazilian league does not stop for the FIFA dates and several teams were missing players called up on international duty and that may have contributed to the dearth of goals. Only four of the league's 20 teams scored three times and there were just 21 goals in 10 games.

Five of the weekend's fixtures ended in draws. There were no goals in the games between Cricuma and Corinthians, Bahia and Coritiba, and Chapecoense and Goias, while Palmeiras' new boss Dorival Junior got a point in a 1-1 draw at Atletico Paranaense.

Santos beat Vitoria 3-1 on Saturday and Gremio halted Flamengo's recent good run with a 1-0 win at the Maracana.

Figueirense beat second placed Internacional 3-2 away from home and Atletico Mineiro won 1-0 against Botafogo.