CSKA Moscow kept their two-point lead at the top of the Russian Premier League with a 3-1 victory over Lokomotiv Moscow on Wednesday as the top division played a full round of games.
Second-placed Zenit beat faltering Kuban 1-0 in St. Petersburg – the Krasnodar side’s third straight 1-0 reverse – while the rest of the top five also won: Rubin 2-0 over Volga Nizhny Novgorod in Kazan, Anzhi Makhachkala 3-0 against Krylya Sovetov in Samara, and Dynamo Moscow 2-0 at cross-town rivals Spartak.
The army side got in front of the railwaymen early, with Seydou Doumbia’s strike in the 12th minute, but Slovakia’s Jan Durica leveled the scores on the half-hour. Parity only lasted for five minutes, however, with Serb winger Zoran Tosic restoring the home side’s lead before Ivory Coast striker Doumbia sealed the points with his second goal 12 minutes after the restart.
CSKA have 31 points and a game in hand – against Volga – on the rest of the top sides, with Zenit on 29, Rubin 27 and Anzhi and Dynamo 26.
Down the bottom, Terek Grozny continued their good run since Dutch coach Ruud Gullit was fired, winning 2-0 at Krasnodar after beating Krylya Sovetov by the same score in Grozny at the weekend. The former AC Milan and Chelsea star was axed when the Chechens lost 1-0 to a 90th-minute own goal against Amkar a week ago.
The night’s other games saw Amkar beat bottom side Spartak Nalchik 1-0 in Perm and Tom Tomsk and Rostov play out a 1-1 draw in Siberia.