Kazan down Moscow to make it eight from nine

Russian Premier League leaders Kazan battled from a goal down to clinch their season’s eighth win 2-1 here on Tuesday against the hosts FC Moscow.

That moved Kazan up to 24 points from nine matches, eight points ahead of second-placed Spartak Moscow.

Another Moscow side Lokomotiv sit third on 15 points with a game in hand.

FC Moscow and Kazan were battling for the initiative from the start trying to expose their opponents’ defensive frailties.

In the 34th minute FC Moscow jumped into the lead through defender Vitaly Kaleshin, who fired home from the edge of the six-yard box after beating Kazan’s defence on a breakaway.

Kazan levelled in the 61st minute through Turkish striker Hasan Kabze, who beat the hosts’ goalkeeper Yury Zhevnov with a 27-metre freekick.

Alexander Ryazantsev netted Kazan’s winning goal with two minutes remaining with a six-yard header.

Russia’s nine-time champions Spartak Moscow took the second spot with a 4-2 home win over nine-man Yaroslavl.

Spartak also had to battle back from a goal down as Yaroslavl striker Roman Monarev netted an 11th minute opener after a mix-up in the Spartak defence.

Spartak drew level three minutes later through Brazilian midfielder Santos Mozart, who scored from the spot after Nikita Bazhenov was fouled in their box.

In the 34th minute Spartak went into the lead when Yaroslavl’s Portuguese defender Ricardo Silva sent the ball into his own net in attempt to stop Bazhenov’s short cross.

The guests’ Serbian defender Slavoljub Djordjevic weakened his team as he was sent off for a second bookable offence just before the break.

However, in the 61st minute Silva corrected his error scoring an equaliser with a header but Brazilian striker Soares Welliton restored Spartak’s lead three minutes later also with a close-range header.

In the 79th minute Yaroslavl halfback Dmitry Kudriashov was also sent off for a tackle from behind virtually dashing his side’s hopes to save the day.

Forward Roman Pavlyuchenko scored Spartak’s fourth immediately after that beating Yaroslavl ‘keeper Alexei Stepanov with a powerful 30-metre freekick to secure a well-deserved win for the Moscow side.