Felipe and Diego Souza scored in each half to take Vasco onto 57 points from 31 games, two ahead of Corinthians who were held 1-1 at Internacional in Sunday's matches.
Although they lost top spot, Corinthians were more than happy to settle for a point after playing the second half with 10 men and snatching an 88th minute equaliser.
Corinthians had Alessandro sent off for tackle from behind five minutes before the break and fell behind to Nei's strike midway through the second half. Despite this, they levelled when Alex scored with a free-kick in the 88th minute.
Ceara said on their website that they had fired coach Estevam Soares (pictured) after only 41 days at the club following a 1-0 defeat at Atletico Paranaense which left them in the relegation zone.
Soares became the 32nd coach to lose his job this year among Brazil's 20 first division clubs.
Brazil forward Neymar converted a penalty to put Santos ahead at Flamengo, who were missing Ronaldinho through suspension, but Deivid gave the hosts a 1-1 draw.
The game was a far cry from the previous meeting between the pair when a Ronaldinho hat-trick gave Flamengo a 5-4 win.
