Emmanuel Emenike scored one goal and set up a second to move Spartak Moscow up to third in the Russian Premier League with a dominant 2-0 home win over Dan Petrescu’s FC Kuban on Sunday.
The win boosts Spartak’s hopes of Champions League qualification, as they are two points ahead of Moscow rivals Dynamo and Lokomotiv.
Kuban remain eighth, with fading hopes of a Europa League place, as they lie eight points off Lokomotiv in the final European place.
Emenike gave Spartak the lead on six minutes, taking the ball off Kuban defender Anton Rogochi before lashing past goalkeeper Alexander Belenov.
The second goal came on the hour mark when Emenike flicked the ball over the onrushing Belenov, leaving Brazilian midfielder Ari with a simple finish.
Spartak coach Valery Karpin said that he was worried about his side’s defensive fragility despite the win.
“We had some problems in defense, not all linked to what Kuban had to offer. With some childish mistakes in the centre of the field, it’s not really understandable,” he said.
Kuban coach Petrescu said that the defeat could be blamed on Spartak’s dominance in the early stages.
“A very bad game and performance,” he said.
“We let them take the advantage, let them run the game. It was very hard to get back into the game after that.”
Spartak started brightly, with Kirill Kombarov a prominent early threat down the right. He crossed for Ari on ten minutes, but the Brazilian could not finish from close range.
The hosts continued to push after their first goal, with both Ari and defender Marek Suchy going close before Kirill Kombarov was substituted with an injury on 20 minutes, blunting the Spartak attack.
Spartak goalkeeper Artyom Rebrov, in for the injured Andriy Dikan, denied Marcos Urena at the near post, but was lobbed on 21 minutes by Alexey Ionov, who saw his effort rebound off the crossbar.
Kuban top scorer Lacina Traore had scored in each of his three previous appearances against Spartak, but made little impression, failing to connect with a promising cross shortly before half-time.
Former Celtic midfielder Aiden McGeady came close just before Spartak’s second, picking up Emenike’s cross but firing straight at Belenov in the Kuban goal.
Spartak appeared happy to sit back in the later stages, but suffered late scares from Kuban with efforts from Rogochy and Marcos Pizzelli.
