Neymar shines as Santos beat leaders Flamengo

Neymar struck late as Santos edged to a 1-0 home win over leaders Flamengo in Brazil's Serie A championship on Wednesday.

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward broke the deadlock in the 84th minute, turning sublimely after receiving Guilherme's pass and firing into the far corner.

It was the 33-year-old's first goal of a Serie A campaign disrupted by injury, with only three starts so far.

"I want to play 90 minutes of every game," Neymar said after the match. "I want to be better physically but that takes time, both in terms of playing and training."

Neymar admitted he remains some way off recapturing his best form, having suffered a series of leg muscle injuries since returning from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last October.

"My body is still adapting, getting used to everything again," said Neymar, who spent more than a year on the sidelines after sustaining the injury while playing for Brazil in a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay.

"It's not easy to deal with the injury I had. I'm very happy to be able to contribute in every way, both attacking and defending. I'm not 100%, but I'm getting better all the time," he added.

Wednesday's result leaves Santos 13th in the 20-team standings with 14 points, 13 points behind Flamengo, which is ahead of second-placed Cruzeiro on goal difference.

"Flamengo, in my opinion, is the best team in the league," Neymar said. "Tactically they are very good, they defend and attack very well. They have very high-quality players.

"Today we showed that we can be better than our current league position suggests. It's a fresh start for us. We had time to work. We showed that we can compete with any team in the competition."

In other Brazilian Serie A fixtures on Wednesday, Palmeiras drew 1-1 at home to Mirassol, Corinthians won 1-0 at Ceara, Botafogo was held to a goalless home draw by Vitoria and Sao Paulo drew 2-2 at Bragantino.