The Russian Premier League’s basement club FC Tomsk earned a goalless draw at home to Krylya Sovetov in a hard-fought relegation scrap Saturday.
The result gives Tomsk their longest unbeaten run of the season at three games, and closes the gap to Spartak Nalchik to one point, while Krylya remain 13th, seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Both sides had chances to win, and the Siberian team missed a late opportunity to move off the foot of the table when Ruslan Nakhushev lashed wide from close range.
Viktor Stroev almost scored for Tomsk with a long shot on 18 minutes, before Khyzyr Appaev fumbled a chance for Krylya on 30 minutes, firing over the bar when faced with an open goal.
Ex-Blackpool striker Sergey Kornilenko thought he had scored shortly after the hour mark, but it was disallowed for offside.
The game also marked the return of former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Alexander Hleb, who missed Krylya’s last two league games due to an injury.
Later Saturday, CSKA Moscow host Lokomotiv Moscow, while FC Krasnodar take on Amkar Perm.
Sunday sees FC Rostov play Spartak Nalchik, while Dynamo Moscow take on Spartak Moscow, Rubin Kazan travel to Zenit St. Petersburg and Anzhi play Dan Petrescu’s Kuban.
On Monday, Terek Grozny play FC Volga looking to avenge Thursday's 2-1 Russian Cup quarterfinal defeat to the Nizhny Novgorod side.
