Russia round-up: CSKA on song

In-form CSKA Moscow recorded yet another Premier-Liga victory, beating SC Rotor Volgograd 2-0 today.

Duo return
Russian international Viacheslav Daev and Bosnia-Herzegovnian midfielder Elver Rahimic were back in action for CSKA, as they took on Rotor in this rearranged fixture. The match was played today due to CSKA's Russian Cup commitments last Thursday, when they beat FC Amkar Permj to earn a place in the final.

Gusev free-kick
The capital club had to wait until midway through the first half for their first shot on goa, Latvian international Juris Laizans testing Andrey Chichkin with a powerful shot from outside the box. Three minutes later, however, CSKA were celebrating as Rolan Gusev caught Chichkin out of position with a free-kick.

Wasted opportunities
Rotor almost equalised just before half-time when Maxim Bondarenko, Mihail Mysin and Valery Esipov all wasted chances in a mix-up in the CSKA penalty area. Esipov then saw another chance go begging when he missed the ball in a perfect scoring situation on 63 minutes.

Yanovsky on target
CSKA doubled their lead on 77 minutes when Igor Yanovsky scored with a deflected shot. Sergey Semak could have extended the lead further but was foiled three times by Chichkin in the Rotor goal. The win leaves CSKA second in the table with 22 points. Rotor share eighth spot with FC Shinnik Yaroslavl.