Samuel Eto'o first league goal since November and an own goal from Nicolas Pareja helped Anzhi to a 3-0 Russian Premier League win over Spartak Moscow on Saturday.
The Cameroonian put Anzhi ahead five minutes before the break, collecting a through pass from Odil Ahmedov and firing past Artem Rebrov in the Spartak goal.
Substitute Shamil Lakhiyalov made it two on the hour, knocking the ball into an empty net after Rebrov lost an aerial duel with Anzhi striker Mbark Boussoufa.
Pareja inadvertently scored a third ten minutes later, sidefooting into his own net from the edge of the box under pressure from three Anzhi players.
Spartak could have gone second with a win but instead remain third, one point behind Dynamo Moscow, who in turn trail leaders Zenit by 12 points.
Anzhi overtake Rubin to move to sixth on 63 points, though the Kazan team can retake the position later at Lokomotiv Moscow.
It was only Guus Hiddink's third win in eight matches since joining in February, while Eto'o's goal was his first since scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory over CSKA Moscow in November.
"We talked this morning and we said we have nothing to lose, so let's try to get a very good result," Hiddink said. "Some players hardly play, and I'm very proud of what they did today."
The game at Luzhniki was more even than the score suggested, with both teams creating plenty of chances.
Anzhi midfielder Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez headed wide from a Yuri Zhirkov cross early on.
Spartak responded emphatically as Artem Dzyuba crashed a shot against the crossbar on seven minutes.
An Aiden McGeady long shot flew just over on 17 minutes. The Irishman jinked into the box just after but a defender took the sting out of his shot.
At the other end, Boussoufa had a low effort saved by Artem Rebrov, before the young goalkeeper kept out the follow-up from Eto'o.
Then, Emmanuel Emenike broke clear but Anzhi goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov rushed out to smother his shot, and the Nigerian fired a the rebound over from a tight angle.
After the visitors went two up, Dzyuba had a free header from a corner but directed it straight at Gabulov.
Eto'o hit the cross bar from a tight-angle free kick at the other end.
Anzhi grew in confidence after the unfortunate own goal.
Eto'o took a pass from Lakhiyalov but his low shot was saved.
Spartak mounted late pressure, chiefly through McGeady, but couldn't find a way past Gabulov.
In other results this weekend, Zenit salvaged a 2-2 draw against FC Kuban; Dynamo Moscow edged CSKA Moscow 1-0; Amkar Perm beat bottom side Spartak Nalchik 1-0; FC Volga scored a 2-0 win over FC Tom Tomsk; and FC Krasnodar got a 1-0 away win at Terek Grozny.
