Samuel Eto’o has made his first home appearance for Anzhi Makhachkala, scoring one of the goals in Anzhi’s 2-1 win over Volga on matchday 23 of the Russian Premier League.
The Cameroonian star-striker, who was officially presented in Dagestan on Saturday, said that “the life of the people here isn’t easy and if with my game I’ll be able to make them happier, then my coming here isn’t in vain.”
And just a day later in the city’s Dynamo Stadium, he seriously improved the mood of local fans, scoring an 18th minute equalizer against the visitors from Nizhny Novgorod.
Mbark Boussoufa fed unmarked Eto’o with the ball and the Cameroonian made no mistake, calmly slotting the ball inside keeper Vitaly Astakhov’s far post to make it 1-1.
It was also the first-ever appearance in Anzhi’s starting line-up for the former Inter Milan man and his second goal in as many games in the Russian top flight.
The Makhachkala side were lucky to take the lead in the second half. Roberto Carlos delivered a free-kick and Volga’s Alexandr Shulenin redirected the ball into his own goal, 2-1.
The win sees Anzhi climb to fourth spot in the table.
Amkar Perm 0-1 Spartak Moscow
With top striker Welliton suspended for six games, Spartak had problems creating scoring chances away at Amkar.
The only goal of the game was scored by a defender as Nico Pareja cureved in a splendid free-kick five minutes from time.
Spartak Nalchik 0-1 Rostov
Nalchik and Rostov were also separated by a single goal, which came towards the end of the match.
Romanian international Razvan Cocis was first to the rebound to fire home in the 83rd minute to see Spartak drop to the very bottom of the table.
Krylia Sovietov Samara 2-0 FC Tom
Krylia are now just a point away from leaving the relegation zone after dealing with FC Tom, who struggle both on and off the pitch.
The Tomsk team haven’t scored in six games, while the club’s very existence is in question due to lack of finance.
Sergey Kornilenko and Pavel Yakovlev each scored for the home team in the first half to bag the hosts a 2-0 victory.