Vasco came out the blocks like a team desperate to secure the title and within a couple of minutes had gone close through the mercurial Diego Souza.
Moments later though, Vasco had their lead. That man Diego Souza broke clear once more, crossing from the left for forward Elton to finish in fine style for the title contenders.
Next they hit the post, before after just eighteen minutes it was 2-0 as right wing-back Fágner capitalised on a scrap in the penalty area to turn the ball home.
Diego Souza and Éder Luis were bossing proceedings and Galo were stuck, forced back by the Vasco pressure and lucky to end the first-half at 2-0.
In the second-half, Atlético were much improved and Eron, Carlos César and Magno Alves all had good opportunities to pull the relegation threatened visitors back into the game, but it wasn’t to be.
Then, on the hour mark, midfielder Serginho was dismissed and the brief challenge from the Minas Gerais side was over.
Éder Luis missed a good chance to round-off his performance with a goal late-on in the game, but it mattered little as the Carioca side celebrate their return to the summit of the division, with just eight games to play.
