Russia round-up: Zenit close in on leaders

Second-placed FC Zenit St. Peterburg gained ground on Russian Premier League leaders PFC CSKA Moskva at the weekend courtesy of a 3-0 defeat of relegation-threatened FC Chernomorets Krasnodarskiy Kray.

Kerzhakov double
Zenit's Aleksandr Kerzhakov scored twice in the second half in Saturday’s home game – once from the penalty spot – after Vladimir Bystrov’s opener before the break, when the dismissal of Flavio Souza did not help the cause of the visitors.

Point saved
CSKA were held to a 1-1 draw by FC Dinamo Moskva in the capital derby, which was also played on Saturday. The home team even needed Croatian striker Ivica Olic to put away a 62nd-minute penalty to salvage a point from the encounter after Ruslan Baltiev gave Dinamo the lead in the 40th minute.

Third at best
Defending Russian champions FC Lokomotiv Moskva, meanwhile, will now consider themselves fortunate to finish third after they unexpectedly lost to city rivals FC Torpedo Moskva 1-0. Torpedo’s Igor Semshov collected the vital goal shortly after the interval as his side warmed up in the best possible fashion for the return leg of their UEFA Cup tie wih PFC CSKA Sofia. Lokomotiv lie in joint-third spot with Dinamo on 45 points.

Good form
FC Spartak Moskva, also looked in fine shape agead of their UEFA Cup encounter with Danish team Esbjerg fB, defeating FC Krylya Sovetov Samara 2-0 away from home thanks to goals from Aleksandr Pavlenko and Egor Titov.

Two down
Elsewhere, fourth-placed FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast lost their second consecutive match, going down to a goal from
Rakhmatullo Fuzailov in a 1-0 defeat by FC Shinnik Yaroslavl. At the other end of the standings, FC Torpedo-Metallurg Moskva, FC Uralan Elista and FC Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz all recorded vital victories to keep their survival chances alive.

Relegation zone
Chernomorets are on 21 points and are almost certain to go down while Torpedo-Metallurg lie second bottom on 23 points despite beating SC Rotor Volgograd 1-0. Uralan climbed out of the relegation zone thanks to a 3-1 defeat of FC Rostov which moved them two points behind Spartak-Alania – who overcame FC Rubin Kazan 1-0.