Rio de Janeiro, Aug 6 : Jhon Arias and John Kennedy scored either side of halftime as Fluminense secured a 2-1 home win over Palmeiras in Brazil's Serie A championship. Arias converted an early penalty before Kennedy struck from the edge of the six-yard box just before the hour on Saturday. The hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 89th minute when forward Lele was shown a second yellow card in as many minutes for an ugly challenge, Xinhua reported. Gustavo Gomez then headed home to give the visitors a glimmer of hope, but Fluminense survived to secure their ninth win of the campaign and leapfrog Palmeiras into third place. In other Brazilian Serie A fixtures on Saturday, Internacional were held to a 2-2 home draw by Corinthians, Goias won 1-0 at home to Fortaleza and Athletico Paranaense drew 1-1 at Santos. /IANS