Hulk shines for Zenit, Tula in trouble
Hulk's double helped Zenit St. Petersburg extend their lead at the top of the Russian Premier League to eight points after a 2-1 win over rivals CSKA Moscow.
The Brazil striker broke the deadlock just after the hour mark and then doubled both his tally and Zenit's lead ten minutes later, before CSKA's Carlos Strandberg set up a nervy finish with a strike towards the end but the hosts held firm. The result increases the gap leaders Zenit have over second-placed CSKA to eight points with nine games left to play.
At the other end of the table Arsenal Tula remain in deep trouble after losing their six-pointer with fellow strugglers Torpedo Moscow 3-1. Alexey Pugin put Torpedo in front three minutes before the interval, only to watch that lead wiped out by an Artur Maloyan strike four minutes into the second half at the Stadion Arsenal.
The visitors got themselves back in front thanks to Kirill Kombarov and Anton Putsila made sure of the win 19 minutes from time. The defeat leaves Arsenal occupying the last automatic relegation place and they are now three points behind Rostov in the second relegation play-off berth after they won 1-0 at Ural.
That defeat pulls Ural down into the relegation play-off places, just above Rostov, who won courtesy of an Artem Dzjuba strike. Ufa sit two points and as many places above Ural, knowing they have little room for slip-ups now after Marcin Komorowski's strike for Terek Grozny was enough to condemn them to a 1-0 defeat as well.