Alisson and in-form Bolivian forward Marcelo Moreno were both on target as Cruzeiro responded from their defeat to Sao Paulo with a 2-0 victory over Atletico PR in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday.
The result saw Cruzeiro improve to 49 points from 22 games as they regained their seven-point lead ahead of Sao Paulo, whose nine-match unbeaten run ended with a 3-1 loss at lowly Coritiba.
Cruzeiro had gone 12 games without defeat prior to their 2-0 loss last week, but Marcelo Oliveira's side bounced back on home soil, where they have now won 10 consecutive league matches.
Brazil young-gun Alisson opened the scoring in the 27th minute, curling a shot from the edge of the area into the far left-corner of the net thanks to a wicked deflection.
Cruzeiro's win was a blow for Sao Paulo, who suffered a second-half collapse at Coritiba on Wednesday.
Helder equalised on the hour-mark with a thunderous effort from outside the box before Cameroon striker Joel struck three minutes later, side-footing the ball into an empty net.
Joel sealed the points for Coritiba with four minutes remaining, rounding Sao Paulo keeper Denis after the visitors pushed numbers forward in search of an equaliser.
Botafogo ended with just eight men as they lost 3-2 at home to fellow strugglers Bahia, while Fluminense, who were shocked 3-1 by cellar-dwellers Vitoria, lost fifth spot to in-form Gremio.
Gremio played out a goalless draw with Santos on Thursday, which was enough for Luiz Felipe Scolari's men to move a point clear of Fluminense.
In other results, title hopefuls International and Corinthians both drew. International - third in the standings - were held to a scoreless draw at Sport Recife on Wednesday.
