RIO DE JANEIRO, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Santos suffered its first loss after producing a 7-game winning streak in the 2012 Sao Paulo state championship on Saturday.
Mogi Mirim handed Santos a 3-1 loss in the 13th round of the competition as Santos head coach Muricy Ramalho opted to rest most of his starters, including Neymar, Paulo Henrique Ganso, Borges and keeper Rafael, focused on the 2012 Libertadores Cup.
Elano led the team onto the field, but disappointed his coach's and fans' expectations, receiving boos and chants of dissatisfaction.
Santos scored its only goal of the match in the 3rd minute of play off an angled shot from Dimba. However, after the goal, Santos appeared to have forgotten about the rest of the game and quickly found itself dominated by the home team.
Morgi Mirim reacted rapidly and scored the equalizer in the 6th minute off a header from Val. Returning to the second half, Felipe gave his team the lead after staying with a loose ball and driving it past reserve keeper Aranha in the 54th minute. Val returned to score again in the 59th minute off a one-timer.
The result, although undesired, was not terribly detrimental to Santos. The team remains in second place with 27 points. In the next round of the state tournament, it will travel to face rival Sao Paulo on March 18.
Mogi Mirim's victory catapults the team into third place with 26 points. Its win over Santos was the first by a "small team" against a "big team" in this year's state championship.
Also on Saturday, leader Corinthians gave up its 1-0 lead and ended up tying Guarani 1-1 at home. The result keeps Corinthians in first place with 30 points. Guarani remains in a surprising sixth place with 23 points.