RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- German Cano and Agustin Canobbio scored either side of halftime as Fluminense edged to a 2-1 home win over Fortaleza in Brazil's Serie A on Saturday.

Veteran Argentine striker Cano put his side ahead in the ninth minute with a low first-time finish following Kevin Serna's cut-back.

Serna was again the provider just after the hour as he delivered an inch-perfect cross for Canobbio to fire home from the edge of the six yard box.

Fortaleza reduced the deficit in the 73rd minute when Breno Lopez ran onto Allanzinho's pass to side-foot home from close range.

Fluminense survived a tense final 20 minutes to clinch its eighth win of the campaign and rise to eighth in the 20-team standings, 12 points ahead of 19th-placed Fortaleza.

"We took another big step forward in the league today," Fluminense manager Renato Gaucho told reporters after the match.

"At the same time, we're still alive in the Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores. It's taking a lot out of us and we have to make sure that we aren't asking too much of our players. We aren't prioritizing any particular competition but we want to advance in all three."

In other Brazilian Serie A fixtures on Saturday, Bahia won 2-1 at Corinthians, Vitoria was held to a 2-2 home draw by Juventude, Sao Paulo drew 2-2 at Sport Recife and Ceara edged to a 1-0 home win over Bragantino. ■