The 20-year-old, who scored 43 goals from 47 matches across all competitions for Santos last season, says he and his teammates are still yet to reach full fitness after a summer break of more than a month, reports Xinhua.
"Other teams are in better shape than us right now but we are improving," Neymar said after the match Saturday. "I am happy to have scored twice - it's the ideal way to start the year."
In other matches, Neymar's international teammate Luis Fabiano scored in Sao Paulo's 2-0 victory over Mirassol while a Hernane double fired Flamengo to a 2-0 win over Quissama in Rio de Janeiro's Campeonato Carioca.