Pedro shines as Flamengo rout Atletico Mineiro

Pedro continued his prolific scoring form as defending champion Flamengo cruised to a 4-0 away win over Atletico Mineiro in Brazil's Serie A on Sunday.

The Brazil international opened the scoring with an eighth-minute strike and Ecuadorian winger Gonzalo Plata doubled the advantage with a long-range effort just after the half hour.

Giorgian de Arrascaeta latched onto Guillermo Varela's cross to head in his side's third goal on the stroke of halftime before Pedro completed the rout with a late tap-in.

Former Fiorentina striker Pedro now has seven goals in 12 league games this year, including five in his last four outings.

The result leaves Flamengo second in the 20-team standings with 26 points, six behind leader Palmeiras, while Atletico Mineiro is 15th, 12 points further back.

In other fixtures on Sunday, Corinthians won 1-0 at home to Vasco da Gama, Gremio claimed a 1-0 home win over Coritiba, Palmeiras prevailed 1-0 at Bragantino, Athletico Paranaense eased to a 3-1 home win over Vitoria and Fluminense won 2-1 at home to Chapecoense.