Russia's most successful club Spartak Moscow missed out on the chance of joining champions CSKA on top of the Premier League after a 2-1 defeat at Amkar Perm on Monday.
Amkar looked in command from the start and clinched the lead through Bulgarian forward Georgi Peev, who sent the ball into the net from close range past Spartak 'keeper Sergei Pesiakov 17 minutes into the match.
Spartak pulled back level three minutes after the interval when their midfielder Pavel Yakovlev slotted the ball into the net from eight metres after an Amkar mix-up in defence.
But in the 67th minute the hosts' Slovakian striker Martin Jakubko scored Amkar's winning goal, firing home with an unopposed shot from the edge of the box past the helpless Pesiakov.
Spartak's Argentinian defender Juan Insaurralde dashed his side's hopes to save the day as he was sent off in the 87th minute for a second bookable offence.
The result lifted Amkar into sixth with nine points, five points behind CSKA.
Former Spartak goalkeeper Stanislav Cherchesov, who is currently coaching Amkar, said he was pleased with his team's performance.
"We prepared thoroughly for this match and played it right according to our plan," Cherchesov said. "We dropped some points in our previous matches so this win was extremely necessary both for the team and our supporters."
Meanwhile, Rostov, who were leading the league ahead of this weekend's round of matches, failed to regain top spot as they were thrashed 5-0 by Lokomotiv Moscow.
Equadorian forward Felipe Caicedo lifted the railway-backed side 1-0 up in the 44th minute scoring with a header from a left-handed cross by Moubark Boussoufa, who has recently joined Lokomotiv from Anzhi Makhachkala.
After the break Rostov poured in attack seeking for an equaliser but their marksman Artem Dzyuba, who leads the league's scoring chart with seven goals, looked a pale shadow of his normal self and failed to find the net.
Midfielder Alexander Samedov increased the hosts' lead in the 54th minute with a precise spotkick for a professional foul on Lokomotiv Brazilian forward Maicon in the box by Rostov back Kamil Agalarov, who was red carded for it.
Maicon made it 3-0 just three minutes later just before Rostov Ivory Coast defender Igor Lolo was also sent off for a second bookable offence.
Lokomotiv's Russian international halfback Dmitry Tarasov made it 4-0 for the hosts, while the second-half substitute forward Roman Pavlyuchenko rounded off the scoring with seven minutes to go.
The win lifted Lokomotiv into second spot just one point behind the leading Red Army side.
Source: AFP
