Published: 26 September, 2009, 14:13
Edited: 27 September, 2009, 10:45
Defending Russian Premier League champions Rubin stumbled on Friday night, going down to Amkar 2-1.
The men from Kazan were quick to open the scoring. Alejandro Domingez converted a free kick 7 minutes into the game to get his 14th goal of the season.
But Amkar lost little time in pulling things back to level. Predrag Sikimic shot from long range to square it up after 20 minutes, before Georgy Peyev got the winner for Amkar in the second half.
2-1 the final score, as Amkar notch up their third straight win under new coach Rashid Rakhimov.
While Rubin remain at the top with just 7 games remaining and 7 points clear of Spartak, who could cut this gap on Sunday.
Zenit St Petersburg have kept their title hopes alive with a 2-0 win over CSKA this afternoon.
The breaking point in the game came in the dying minutes of the first half, when Zenit were awarded a penalty, after Sergey Iganshevich handled the ball in the area.
CSKA coach Juande Ramos said afterwards the ref was too harsh. But a replay shows the defender did touch the ball with his elbow.
Serb Mateja Kezman, who is on loan from PSG, stepped up to convert, posting his maiden goal in Russia.
The winner came with just minutes to go in the second half. Vladimir Bystrov won over some of the belligerent Zenit fans after his move from Spartak.