Russia round-up: Saturn miss chance to shine

FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast failed to take advantage of Russian Premier League leaders PFC CSKA Moskva’s weekend off, only managing a 2-2 draw at home against lowly FC Alania Vladikavkaz.

Fixture reshuffle
The fixture CSKA were due to play today against FC Lokomotiv Moskva had been brought forward and took place on 15 July, meaning Saturn were presented with a great chance to go second and close the gap at the summit.

Point saved
The visitors, however, were unfazed by an early goal from Alexei Medvedev and efforts from new signings Serghey Dadu and Cristian Tudor put them in front. Lucas Pusineri salvaged a point in the dying stages.

Diatel decider
The team who did go into the runners-up spot were FC Dinamo Moskva. The Russian capital side overcame FC Uralan Elista 2-0 courtesy of goals from Radoslav Batak and Andrej Diatel. FC Rubin Kazan, in third, sneaked past FC Shinnik Yaroslavl 1-0 while Zenit St. Peterburg, a place behind, sauntered to a 4-1 victory against SC Rotor Volgograd with Alexander Kerzhakov collecting his eleventh goal of the season to lead the scoring charts.

Fedotov joy
Elsewhere, FC Rostov-na-Donu overcame FC Krylya Sovetov Samara 2-1, while bottom-placed FC Torpedo-Metallurg Moskva defeated Chernomorets Krasnodarskiy Kray by the same scoreline. FC Spartak Moskva handed new caretaker coach Vladimir Fedotov a victorious start against FC Torpedo Moskva, winning 1-0 at home thanks to a 15th-minute goal from Yegor Titov.

Relegation dogfight
With six games to go, the five teams most in danger of ultimately occupying one of the two relegation spots are Rotor, Spartak-Alania, Chernomorets, Uralan and Torpedo-Metallurg Moskva.