Brazil internationals Everton Ribeiro and Ricardo Goulart each scored second-half goals as Cruzeiro defeated Gremio 2-1 in Brazil's Serie A championship.
The result after Thursday's match left Cruzeiro needing to win just one of their remaining three matches to guarantee their second consecutive Serie A title, reported Xinhua.
Meanwhile, Gremio have dropped to sixth in the standings, 13 points adrift of the leaders.
In Thursday's only other match, Chapecoense registered a shock 4-1 victory at Fluminense.
Bruno Silva scored twice for the visitors while Camilo and Leandro were also on target.
Fluminense's only goal came when Rafael Lima turned the ball into his own net four minutes from time.
The loss left Fluminense in seventh place while Chapecoense climbed to 15th.
