RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Jair Rodrigues scored late as Vasco da Gama improved their survival hopes with a 1-0 away win over America Mineiro in Brazil's Serie A championship on Monday.

The hosts were forced to endure more than an hour with only 10 men after Iago Maidana was shown a straight red card for a violent tackle on Pablo Vegetti.

It took until the 91st minute for Vasco to take the lead as Jair rifled a shot into the top-right corner after capitalizing on Paulinho Paula's inch-perfect cross.

Felipe Azevedo was also dismissed after having a yellow card upgraded for unruly behavior in the 99th minute time.

The result lifted Vasco to 18th in the 20-team standings with 23 points from as many outings, one rung above America Mineiro, who have 17 points.