Alex stepped in to take the penalty but goalie Aleksey Botviniev rehabilitated for his mistake, reaching the ball in the lower corner inspiring his partners.

Then it was Kuban, who scored first, 10 minutes after. Sloppy defending from Spartak allowed the home team to attempt two shots on goal during one attack, with Dramane Traore delivering the vital touch, 1-0.

Spartak coach, Michael Laudrup, made two substations during the break in order to change the course of the game, putting in Artyom Dzyuba and Rafael Carioca.

But the beginning of the second half became a mirror reflection of the first. Kuban received a chance to score from penalty and also failed to take advantage of it. Spartak’s keeperStipe Pletikosa didn’t let Traore’s score a second goal of the match.

But the hosts were not upset as the 1-0 score remained till the final whistle.

“I am very upset by both the result and the quality of the game. Kuban played well, but showed the type of football which we expected from them. But I thought I would see a lot more from my team. Its Just a couple of days since the match against Zenit, in which we played well, and our performance looked completely different. I’ve said many times that the team should keep a high level of motivation regardless of the opposition they face. You need a different mentality to fight for top places in the table,” Michael Laudrup said, Spartak official website reports.

Krylia Sovietov Samara 1-0 Amkar Perm

Czech giant Jan Koller struck on 60 minutes to give Krylia Sovietov a win over visitorsfrom Perm.

Leonid Sloutsky’s men now have six points after two games, while Amkar is still looking for their first goal of the season.

Dinamo Moscow 3-2 Khimki Moscow Region

Khimki appeared as visitors at their home field. They share the newly built Khimki Area with Dynamo, who have their home stadium under reconstruction.

And they really looked like guests in the beginning. Aleksandr Kokorin was first on the cross by Dmitry Kombarov to give Dinamo the 1-0 lead on 19 minutes.

Khimki came back into the game quite soon. Eldar Nizamutdinov beat Dinamo defender Leandro Fernandez and left no chance to keeper Vladimir Gabulov, 1-1.

The White-and-Blues regained the lead, when Aleksandr Kerzhakov scored from penalty, awarded for a fault on himself, 2-1. It was the second goal in two games for ex-Sevilla striker.

But then Khimki’s Miodrag Ivanovich also scored his second of the season and the teams left for halftime break leveled at 2-all.

Dinamo whooped the victory – their second of the season – after the break. Substitute Aleksandr Demidko used his head to convert another great cross from Dmitry Kombarov into a decisive goal, 3-2.

FC Moscow 0-0 Terek Grozny

FC Moscow and Terek Grozny were unable to find the net in the last match of the day. The Chechen team received six yellow cards but managed to achieve their goal of bringing one point from the Russian capital.