Published: 24 August, 2009, 00:01
Edited: 24 August, 2009, 00:01
It’s been a weekend with few disappointments in Russia’s Premier League, as favorites earned crucial wins over underdogs. Rubin remain on top, with Spartak Moscow just a point behind. They meet face to face next week.
All's going according to plan for champions Rubin. The Kazan side was in a no-nonsense mood in Moscow, blitzing Dynamo 3-0.
A brace from the penalty spot by Alejandro Domingues preceded a 90th minute strike from Aleksandr Riazantsev.
Rubin remain a point clear atop the standings.
Meanwhile, Spartak Moscow stayed right on Rubin’s heels with a convincing road victory against Terek.
The game was sealed in the middle of the first half, after the Muscovites tallied three goals in just 8 minutes. Welliton connected twice in Grozny, bringing his league-leading total to 15. Two goals at the end of the second half was all Grozny could manage to respond with this evening.
Next week Spartak will host Rubin in a match that some experts believe will decide the championship.
It’s been another less-than-stunning day in the Premier League for Zenit St. Petersburg
A 1-1 draw with Lokomotiv Moscow up north did little to increase their hopes of lifting silverware by the year's end.
 Zenit – Lokomotiv (Photo from www.rusfootball.info) |
It was Lokomotiv who struck first. Brazilian midfielder Wagner was the fastest to react after the Zenit goalkeeper fumbled a scorching Lokomotiv cross 9 minutes into the game.
But Zenit pressed hard after that, and duly conjured up a well-deserved equalizer right before the half-hour mark. Superb work from Husti on the outside resulted in an unstoppable header from Fattih Tekke.
1-1 was how the game finished, despite chance after chance for Zenit.
Loko are now unbeaten since the middle of June.
Relegation-threatened Kuban saw off Amkar 1-0 in Russia's south.
Earlier on Saturday, the high-flying Muscovites earned a crucial victory to remain in fourth place.
Martin Yakubko gave the home side a dream start just two minutes in.
Definitely not one for the defensive manuals, but the Slovak ending was too good there.
Despite dominating the clash for long periods, the men from the capital had to wait until 76 minutes in to double their advantage.
The game looked like it was in the bag, but when Saturn's Benoit Angbwa headed into the net a minute from time, it was game on. However, all worries were laid to rest when Moscow's two-goal cushion was restored. Aleksandr Samedov kicked the ball into an empty net to guarantee the win.
CSKA also came out on top against Khimki, ranked at the bottom of the league standings.
This was the game of two halves, with CSKA racing out of the blocks but tiring rapidly toward the end.
Krylya Sovetov 2-2 Rostov
In Saturday's first game, Krylya Sovetov failed to climb back into the top half of the table. The Samara men drew 2-2 with relegation-threatened Rostov.
All four goals came in the second half, with Czech veteran Jan Koller breaking the deadlock for Krylya in the 49th minute.
Moments later, Dmitry Akimov equalized matters, as the striker got just enough purchase on the wet ball for it to slide under the goalkeeper.
But just three minutes later, Aleg Evanov restored the home side's advantage.
2-1 with 33 minutes to go… and that proved plenty of time for Rostov to grab another point. Mersudin Akhmetovich superbly found the net without even looking at where it was.
Second-from-bottom Spartak Nalchik was unable to rise in the rankings, despite pulling out all the stops to claw out a 3-0 win against FC Tom.