The Sao Paulo had team won the away leg 1-0 last week and advanced to the final after playing out a stalemate in soggy conditions that diminished the quality of football from both sides.
Santos went into the game knowing they needed to score to keep the tie alive and enjoyed a majority of the possession, but Corinthians packed their defence and made it difficult for the visitors to break them down.
The pick of the early chances fell to Corinthians when Alex's free-kick forced Rafael to make a fine fingertip save, but Santos stunned the home fans when they took the lead in the 35th minute to level the tie.
Ten minutes before the break, he pushed the ball out wide to Alan Kardec and kept running to be on hand to bundle the ball into the net after Borges had prodded Kardec's cross onto the post.
"Our players deserve it, the fans deserve it, the management team deserves it," said Danilo, who won the South American equivalent of the Champions League with Sao Paulo in 2005.
"But we know that we've not won anything yet. Our feet are still on the ground."
