Two-time Russian champions Lokomotiv Moscow joined Zenit St Petersburg at the top of the Premier League table following a hard-fought 1-0 win in the Moscow derby with Dynamo on Sunday.
The winning goal by Senegalese forward Dame N'Doye allowed Lokomotiv to draw level at the top on 36 points from 17 matches, with two more Msocow clubs, CSKA and Spartak, three points further back.
"It was hard to prepare the team for this match as we experienced certain personnel problems because some of our players came back after their national team's matches with injuries," Lokomotiv manager Leonid Kuchuk said.
"It's always tough to oppose Dynamo but we managed to keep ourselves concentrated throughout the match.
"We played very well organised football today and it paid off as we scored the goal and had more chances to score later in the match."
Lokomotiv, who beat Dynamo 3-1 earlier in the season, started in a lively style but failed to find the net before the break.
After the interval Dynamo moved up a gear and created a series of scoring chances but also to no avail.
N'Doye netted the winner in the 65th minute with a low shot from just inside the area.
Dynamo poured forward seeking an equaliser but failed to save the day.
Head coach Dan Petrescu blamed his team's loss of concentration for the defeat.
"We just gifted Lokomotiv that win," Petrescu said. "A loss of concentration for just a couple of minutes and an unexplainable mix-up in defence resulted in Lokomotiv's goal.
"It's a very disappointing defeat."
Meanwhile, Anzhi Makhachkala failed again to chalk up their first win of the season as they were held to a 0-0 draw by visitors Volga Nizhny Novgorod.
In Sunday's other match Ural Yekaterinburg and Samara drew 1-1.
Ural defender Denis Tumasyan opened the scoring in the 39th minute but Paraguayan forward Luis Caballero saved the day for the visitors with less than a minute to go.
Source: AFP
