Ten-man Lokomotiv hold CSKA, Zenit draw
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Reigning champions Zenit St Petersburg, who played out a 2-2 draw at Spartak Moscow, sit third three points further back. Côte d'Ivoire sharpshooter Seydou Doumbia put CSKA 1-0 up in the 16th minute from the penalty spot after Kirill Panchenko had been brought down.
Five minutes later, Lokomotiv's Senegalese striker Baye Oumar Niasse levelled, also with a spotkick, after CSKA full back Sergei Ignashevich brought down Alexander Kolomeitsev. Niasse had a chance to put his team into the lead just before the break but goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev parried his close-range attempt. In the 81st minute, Lokomotiv were reduced to ten men when skipper Vedran Corluka was sent off for a second bookable offence.
"Today we lacked inventiveness in attack and managed to battle through a well-organised Lokomotiv defence only once," CSKA manager Leonid Slutsky said. "Of course a draw against the second-placed side isn't the worst possible result but we had chances to win. Unfortunately we failed to convert them."
Spartak, spurred on by a capacity 45,000 crowd at Otkrytie Arena, grabbed the lead after just six minutes against Zenit through Cape Verde striker Ze Luis who lobbed the ball over 'keeper Yury Lodygin from 35 metres. Brazilian Hulk levelled at 1-1 with a powerful 20-metre freekick to grab the lead in the league's scorers chart with six goals so far.
Zenit forward Artem Dzyuba also found the net in the 32nd minute but his goal was ruled off for offside. Bulgarian playmaker Ivelin Popov lifted Spartak 2-1 up in the 70th minute, also lobbing the ball into the net over Lodygin. But the Muscovites failed to keep their lead as Zenit skipper Miguel Danny passed to Dzyuba in the area and he hammered the ball past 'keeper Artem Rebrov from close range with three minutes to go.