Russia round-up: CSKA break away

Gusev on hand
Sergey Semak opened the scoring for the league leaders in the second minute in an encounter played on Saturday but the visitors wiped away the advantage just before the quarter-hour mark. The score then remained deadlocked until Rolan Gusev was on hand to double the advantage in the 72nd minute.

Exciting finale
The referee, however, awarded two penalties in the dying stages to set up an exciting finale. Artem Terehin levelled the scores at 2-2 with one minute of normal time remaining but Ivica Olic also converted at the death to snatch the keenly-contested three points.

Zenit prevail
FC Zenit St. Peterburg overcame FC Spartak Moskva 2-1 courtesy of goals from Vladimir Bistrov and Martin Horak on Friday to climb to second place ahead of FC Dynamo Moskva, who were held to a 1-1 draw by city rivals FC Torpedo Moskva.

On track
Reigning champions FC Lokomotiv Moskva, meanwhile, bounced back from their 2-0 UEFA Champions League reverse at the hands of FC Dynamo Kyiv to collect a comfortable 3-1 win against struggling city rivals FC Torpedo-Metallurg Moskva and go into fifth spot.

Slim chance
Lokomotiv captain Dmitry Loskov struck twice and Maxim Buznikin added another in the first 45 minutes to keep alive his team's slim chances of retaining their title. FC Rubin Kazan, in fourth position, dropped two valuable points in the title race after being held to a 1-1 draw by lowly FC Uralan Elista.

Other results
Elsewhere, FC Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz defeated FC SKA Rostov-na-Donu 1-0 and FC Shinnik Yaroslavl were unable to manage better than a 2-2 draw against SC Rotor Volgograd.