A comprehensive and hastily re-arranged fixture list saw the RPL weekend shifted to those ‘traditional’ domestic match-days, Wednesday and Thursday.
ZENIT ST PETERSBURG 3 – 1 SPARTAK NALCHIK
Fans at the Petrovsky witnessed their team deliver a crushing second-half blow to the league’s early pace-setters by notching three goals in just nine minutes.
Winger Vladimir Bystrov landed the first blow on 65mins with a cool finish after latching onto Faizulin’s cute through-ball. Roman Shirokov doubled the lead from the penalty spot on 71mins, after Kerzhakov was tripped.
After missing most of last season, Portuguese star Dani was back to form, capping a scintillating performance with Zenit’s third goal, a free header in the six-yard box.
Nikita Malyarov struck a consolation goal with a fine free-kick on 90mins.
FC ROSTOV 1 – 0 CSKA MOSCOW
Just when it seemed the Armymen were on a hot streak they came a cropper here.
Rostov started well and kept Akinfeev on his toes for the first 45 before Mersudin Ahmetovic capitalised on a truly woeful attempt by CSKA to defend a 68min corner.
The last time these two met, Rostov also won – leading the board to swing the axe on then manager, Zico.
LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW 0 – 1 SATURN MOSCOW
Loko coach, Yury Semin, pointed the finger at his own charges, describing their performance as “weak-willed” after this defeat to city rivals Saturns, though any pointing should really be in the direction of young opposition goalie Vitaly Chilushkin, who played a blinder.
In the end, a clinical finish from OAP striker, Dmitri Kirichenko, six minutes into the second-half decided it.
SPARTAK MOSCOW 3 – 0 ANZHI MAKHACHKALA
Fans at Luzhniki went Brazil nuts as the Meat battered the Dagestani, with last season’s RPL top-scorer, Welliton, bagging two – a poacher’s effort after 42mins and a good finish to a swift counter on 67mins – before fellow countryman, Alex, brought something of a carnival atmosphere to this corner of the capital by turning in the third with five minutes remaining.
KRYLYA SOVETOV SAMARA 1 – 0 ALANIA VLADIKAVKAZ
Ahh, plucky ol’ Krylya. It would be great to see one of the country’s best supported and, traditionally, well-established teams survive debilitating financial circumstances and beat the drop this year – and they put a point’s gap between themselves and the relegation zone with their first win in five.
Striker Igor Strelkov – brought-in from bankrupt FC Moscow – scored the winner with a back-post header five minutes into the second period.
RUBIN KAZAN 1 – 0 SIBIR NOVOSIBIRSK
For much of this campaign’s opening exchanges, the reigning champs have resembled Wuthering Heights’ Edgar Linton – a damp squib. Here, though, they were far more Heathcliffian against the Siberians, even if the score-line suggests otherwise.
A buccaneering first half just about ended nil-nil but only six minutes after the oranges, Rubin’s Ecuadorian metronome, Christian Noboa, nodded in Bystrov’s freekick after it came back off a combination of bar and goalkeeper.
TOM TOMSK 2 – 1 TEREK GROZNY
The Chechen’s poor run continues, with only one point taken from their last three games, no sort of return for the style of football that Terek often try to employ.
Here, a Kornilenko penalty after 24mins and a Dzyuba winner on 85mins came either side of Shamil Asildarov’s 47min strike, his fourth of the season.
DYNAMO MOSCOW 1 – 1 AMKAR PERM
New Dynamo coach, Miodrag Bozovic, managed to steady the ship after last week’s loss but will no doubt have been put out by the defensive indecisiveness that set up Amkar winger, Vitaly Grishin, for a 54min equaliser.
Andriy Voronin had put the Blue-Whites in front after 13mins from the penalty spot.