MOSCOW: Reigning champions Zenit St Petersburg lost their 100 per cent record in the Russian First Division when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Anzhi Makhachkala on Sunday.
The result still left Zenit on top of the table with 13 points from five matches, one point ahead of second-placed Spartak Moscow. Lokomotiv Moscow and Terek Grozny share third spot on 10 points.
Zenit took the lead in the 20th minute through Konstantin Zyryanov, who received Vladimir Bystrov's pass in the area and beat two Anzhi defenders to fire the ball home from seven metres.
Ivory Coast striker Lacina Traore had a chance to level, redirecting Oleg Shatov's well-struck freekick onto the righthand post where Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev performed a remarkable save.
In the 65th minute, Shatov levelled for Anzhi, sending the ball into the net from close range.
Meanwhile, CSKA Moscow clinched their second consecutive win, beating Saransk 3-0 to take sixth place in the table.
Serbian midfielder Zoran Tosic put CSKA into the lead in the 30th minute beating the hosts' keeper David Yurchenko with a 12-metre shot off Japanese teammate Keisuke Honda's cross.
Alan Dzagoev added another with four minutes remaining before the break when he received Rasmus Elm's 40-metre pass and beat Yurchenko.
Latvian midfielder Alexander Cauna rounded off the scoring as he made it 3-0 on a CSKA counter-attack, sending the ball into the net from Dzagoev's pass in the 58th minute.
"We dominated the play from the start and won the match deservedly," CSKA coach Leonid Slutsky said. "We created plenty of chances. I'm happy with my team's performance."
Dynamo Moscow slumped to a fifth defeat in five games in a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Terek Grozny.
Terek's Polish birthday boy Maciej Rybus scored both of his team's goals, while Hungarian midfielder Balazs Dzsudzsak netted Dynamo's first goal of the season. AFP
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