Match-day twenty-eight of the Sogaz Championship of Russia saw Terek Gronzy end their winless drought that stretched back to 30 July with a 1-0 result over visiting Amkar Perm.

With a win in their nine most recent encounters the Chechen based side entered the day with the threat of relegation not far off. From the opening whistle it was clear this would prove to be a defensive battle with only the hosts posting modest chances, albeit mostly the low probability kind. However with the contest looking very much like a scoreless draw lay in the horizon, Antonio Ferreira notched the winner at the sixty-ninth minute as Jonathan Legear’s long free-kick from the right was flicked off the back post with the twenty-six year-old defender racing forward to nod the rebound into the net. For the balance of the time Amkar offered little going forward and with the final whistle Terek Grozny claimed the 1-0 victory.

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In the opening contest of Sunday in match-day twenty-seven of the Sogaz Championship of Russia, Amkar Perm under new manager Miodrag Božović defeated visiting Kuban Krasnodar 3-1.

The Red-Blacks wasted little time asserting their authority as three minutes after the opening whistle Nikola Mijailović latched onto the loose ball just inside the box and bounded a volley into the top right corner of the net.

Chances were non-existent until the fifty-eighth minute when Igor Armaş was adjudged a penalty for bringing down Sergei Volkov in the area. In the ensuing effort Josip Knežević drove the ball into the net to give the Ural Mountain side the two goal advantage. Fifteen minutes shy of regulation time the match was fait accompli as Nikita Burmistrov brought Zahari Sirakov’s lofted cross from the right down with his chest before volleying into the near corner of the net. After Josip Knežević received his second-yellow card at the eighty-fifth minute, Gig Bucur added a consolation goal for Kuban but it mattered little as Amkar Perm laid claim to the 3-1 victory.

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In a contest that could have implications upon the relegation battle, match-day twenty-six of the Sogaz Championship of Russia saw Amkar Perm hold host Volga Nizhny Novgorod to a nil draw.

In an intensely defensive contest, neither side could muster a notable attacking advance with both goalkeepers resigned to the spot of spectator. Volga was fortunate to have a man advantage with fourteen minutes remaining in regulation time as Georgi Peev was sent off with his second yellow-card but it meant little as Amkar’s defending was resolute. In the final ticks of the watch Israeli in Dani Bondar, ex of Hapoel Tel Aviv, receiving his marching orders with his second yellow-card but otherwise the contest was without incident in a nil draw.

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Rostov extended its unbeaten stretch with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over host Amkar Perm in match-day twenty-five of the Sogaz Championship of Russia.

After an opening half that was void of scoring chances Rostov notched the contests lone goal five minutes after the re-start as Héctor Bracamonte sent Roman Adamov through on the right via a long ball. With Amkar defender Mitar Novaković in hot pursuit the twenty-nine year old, capped thrice for Russia, surged into the right side of the area before firing the ball past ‘keeper Sergei Narubin from ten metres. Amkar immediately stepped up its charge but could not find a way past Stipe Pletikosa as Rostov left the Ural Mountains with the full three points with the 1-0 result.

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Lead by another virtuoso performance from Andriy Voronin, Dynamo Moscow charged to within two points of the top of the table with a 3-0 victory over Amkar Perm at Arena Khimki in match day twenty-four of the Sogaz Championship of Russia.

The White-Blues, who have been on an attacking rampage of late including last week’s 4-0 humiliation of CSKA, went in front 1-0 at the tenth minute as Andriy Voronin struck the killing blow. Initiated from Luke Wilkshire’s provision to Kevin Kurányi, whose clever back heeled was dummied by Artur Yusupov with the Ukrainian international sending his tenth goal of the campaign into the net from three metres beyond the area.

Sergei Silkin’s side doubled the margin on the hour as Aleksandr Samedov was played in on the right side of the area in a textbook overlapping carousel run to which he pulled the ball back for Igor Semshov with the veteran notching his eleventh goal from eight metres. With four minutes remaining in regulation time, Luke Wilkshire’s cross from the right by-line to the back post was nodded into the net by Pavel Nehaichik, newly arrived from BATE Borisov, to seal Dynamo Moscow’s 3-0 victory.

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Returning from the international break with the right step, Spartak Moscow defeated host Amkar Perm in match-day twenty-three of the Sogaz Championship of Russia. With the result, the Red-Whites make up important ground on CSKA and Zenit who both went down to defeat on Saturday and sit fourth in the table ahead of the balance of today’s action.

From the recent draw with CSKA, Spartak manager Valeriy Karpin made two adjustments with Aleksandr Sheshukov and Artem Dzyuba entering for Sergei Parshivlyuk and Welliton, along with the pleasant returns of fully fit Aiden McGeady and Jano Ananidze on the bench. Under difficult rainy conditions the artificial surface in Perm ball handling was a challenge as evidenced by Spartak’s first chance when Ari was seven metres out but he failed to get significant power on his shot with the host ‘keeper smothering easily. In mostly a box to box affair with the Red-Whites clearly the aggressor Artem Dzyuba coyly tried an overhead strike via a cross from the left but his effort drifted wide. For the balance of the half, Spartak plotted its course but was unable to breakthrough and the match went to the break scoreless.

At the re-start, Mr. Karpin summoned Aiden McGeady in for Demy de Zeeuw to the welcoming response of Spartak’s travelling supporters and quickly the Republic of Ireland international began to make his mark. Five minutes shy of the hour, Artem Dzyuba stretched out fully to head a right wing cross but his attempt was agonizingly wide. Jano Ananidze , after entering for Aleksandr Sheshukov at the sixty-fourth minute, narrowly missing breaking the deadlock with his tight angle effort from the right that went off the ‘keeper mitts and into the side netting. After a few tense moments from a rare Amkar attack kept in check by Spartak goalkeeper Andriy Dykan, the Red-Whites poured forward for the winner. Following a questionable non-call of Aleksandr Kolomeytsev’s handball, Nicolás Pareja picked the perfect time to open his Spartak scoring account. Coming at the eighty-fifth minute the twenty-seven year-old product of Argentinos Juniors delivered a brilliant dipping free kick to the bottom right corner of the net to give Spartak the lead they would not relinquish. After a few withstanding Amkar’s efforts the final whistle sounded with Spartak laying claim to the 1-0 victory.

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In the opening contest of match day twenty-two of the Sogaz Championship of Russia, host Tom Tomsk were held to a nil draw with Amkar Perm.

The Siberian hosts entered the day desperate for a win after four successive losses and knowing a victory against the equally struggling Amkar could prove to be decisive in the fight against relegation. Coming off their loss to CSKA, Tomsk manager Valeri Nepomniachi made four changes to his most recent line-up with Sergei Skoblyakov, Yevgeni Balyaikin, Kim Nam-Il and Aleksandr Kharitonov for Sergey Sosnovski, Vladislav Khatazhenkov, Viktor Stroyev and Đorđe Jokić. His counterpart Rashid Rakhimov, made two changes to his starting eleven that held Zenit Saint Petersburg to a nil draw with Zourab Tsiskaridze and Radomir Đalović entering for Andrei Sekretov and Sergei Volkov.

The opening stages saw play tight, though Tom Tomsk was clearly the more likely of the two to break the deadlock. Amkar goalkeeper Sergei Narubin was in top from as he faced a series of menacing advances with Aleksandr Kharitonov often the centre of the Tomsk storm. After seeing a number of advances come up short, Tomsk got the break they were looking for when match day referee Alexi Eskov signalled to the spot at the fifty-third minute when he adjudged Georgi Peev a penalty. However, the normally reliable Pavel Golyshev saw his effort denied by the in-form Amkar ‘keeper with the deadlock intact. Tomsk later had a chance for the winner with Sergei Skoblyakov gifted the ball in close range but the story-line was the same as Sergei Narubin turned the effort away. Late in the proceedings Amkar had a chance to steal the full points as Vitali Grishin surged into the left of the area but Tomsk ‘keep Sergei Pesyakov made the stop with the match concluding as a nil draw.

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In the opening contest of match day twenty-one of the Sogaz Championship of Russia, Solomon Kvirkvelia’s first goal at the top flight provided Rubin Kazan a hard fought 1-1 draw, honours even, with host Amkar Perm.

Chances were sparing early but at the thirty-sixth minute Rashid Rakhimov’s Red-Blacks went in front 1-0 as a cross to the back-post from the right wing was played back to Andrei Sekretov near the spot where he quickly volleyed the ball to the roof of the net.

Rubin was having little success breaking the Amkar’s resolute defending front but with sixth minutes remaining in regulation time Solomon Kvirkvelia found the perfect time to notch his first goal at the top flight as from five metres he headed in a corner. Rubin pressed for the winning margin but after two minutes of added-time the match ended as a 1-1 draw, honours even.

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Zenit Saint Petersburg squandered a chance to make up ground on CSKA Moscow as they were held to a 1-1 draw, honours even, with Amkar Perm at Petrovski Stadion match day twenty of the Sogaz Championship of Russia.

Following CSKA’s draw with Rubin on Saturday, Zenit was in prime position to pull level with the Army-Men but met a determined group of visitors. Coming at the twenty-third minute Amkar shocked their high-flying hosts as Aleksandr Kolomeytsev received the ball from Georgi Peev on a clever set-piece and sent a booming drive into the net from beyond the area. Zenit were in prime position to level prior to the break when Aleksei Popov was adjudged a highly questionable penalty for bringing down Danko Lazović in the area but the former PSV man, in taking the effort himself, sent it well above the bar.

Zenit continued to probe for the leveller and finally managed to squeeze past the determined Amkar defenders at the fifty-second minute. Following a failed clearance attempt Viktor Fayzulin latched onto the loose ball on the right by-line and delivered a cross that Aleksandr Kerzhakov nodded in from close range. Despite pressing for the winner, Zenit was unable to do so and had accept the single point as the match concluded as a 1-1 draw, honours even.

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In the opening contest of Sunday in week nineteen of the Sogaz Championship of Russia, Krasnodar extended their unbeaten run with a 2-0 victory over host Amkar Perm.

Defying expectations prior to the start of the campaign, Slavoljub Muslin’s Krasnodar pushed to ninth in the table with a well disciplined two-way play and a constant vision of pressing forward. Knowing their hosts would allow little space, Krasnodar sat poised on the counter with the mercurial Armenian international Yura Movsisyan and Joãozinho constant threats. Without fail, the visitors took the lead coming from the most unlikely of sources as Nikolay Markov fired a low effort from just beyond the area to the lower left corner at the twelfth minute.

Leaving nothing to chance Krasnodar continued its well managed plan and three minutes after the re-start Montenegrin international, Nikola Drinčić, ex of Spartak Moscow doubled the margin with his trademark free-kick speciality as he set a dipping effort from well outside the area into the net. With the two-goal advantage, the visitors bunkered down to maintain their lead of which they managed to perfection and with the final whistle claimed the 2-0 victory.

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