Rubin Kazan defend lead in Russia

Rubin Kazan avoided a third consecutive defeat on Saturday, and in the process defended their first place in the Russian league.

Gokdeniz Karadeniz put the defending champions in the lead after 31 minutes against FK Khimki, and Alan Kasaev made it 2-0 ten minutes after the break.

Alexander Antipenko pulled one back late on, but it wasn’t good enough for the visiting side. As result of this win, Rubin extend the advantage over second-placed Spartak Moscow to four points, although the latter still have to play against local rivals Lokomotiv Moscow on Sunday.

CSKA Moscow dropped two valuable points at Spartak Nalchik, being held to a 1-1 draw. The Muscovites did score an early goal through Milos Krasic in the third minute, but Alexander Amisulashvili leveled in minute 26.

CSKA now risk dropping from shared third to fifth position.