Russia round-up: CSKA suffer first defeat

PFC CSKA Moskva suffered their first defeat of the season in the latest round of Russian Premier League games as they were beaten 1-0 at home by FC Rostov.

Semak miss
A fifth CSKA victory in a row looked inevitable in the 63rd minute as captain Sergei Semak prepared to take a penalty, but his effort was saved in style by Ilya Blizniuk, and, 15 minutes from time Essau Kanyenda and Hendricks Rowan set up Gift Kampamba for a Rostov winner. Late on, Jiri Jarošik looked to have rescued a point, but the Czech Republic midfield player's shot hit the post. Nevertheless, CSKA are still two points clear at the top of the division.

Miholaps heroics
Elsewhere, Latvia striker Mihails Miholaps recorded the first hat-trick of the Premier-Liga season as FC Spartak-Alania Vladikavkaz stormed to a stunning 3-2 victory against champions FC Lokomotiv Moskva. Dmitri Loskov and Julio Cesar scored the goals for ailing Lokomotiv, who are languishing in 12th place.

First win for Spartak
FC Spartak Moskva recorded their first win of the season as they beat FC Uralan Elista 2-1. Egor Titov and Roman Pavlyuchenko gave Spartak a 2-0 lead, before Luizao's own goal pulled one back for the hosts.

Saturn comeback
Elsewhere, FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast mounted a superb comeback to beat FC Torpedo Moskva 3-2 away from home. Roman Monarev and Valeri Leonov scored inside the first 14 minutes to give the Moscow side a 2-0 lead, but goals from Radu Rebeja, Nikolos Pavlovic and Alexey Medvedev secured three points for the visitors, who are now second.

Zenit win
Fourth-placed FC Zenit St. Peterburg beat FC Rubin Kazan 1-0 thanks to a goal from Czech midfielder Radek Širl. FC Krylya Sovetov Samara drew 1-1 with FC Chernomorets Krasnodarskiy Kray while  FC Shinnik Yaroslavl played out a scoreless draw with FC Dinamo Moskva.

Esipov goal
In the only game on Sunday, SC Rotor Volgograd recorded their first win of the season, 3-0 against FC Torpedo Moskva thanks to goals from Vladimir Radkevich, Denis Zubko and Valeri Esipov, who also missed a 75th-minute penalty.