Roman Eremenko scored one goal and set up another as Rubin Kazan beat visitors CSKA Moscow 3-1 with two late goals to deny the Moscow team Champions League football next season.
The result leaves CSKA third in the Premier League final standings, and they will play in the Europa League next season after their Moscow rivals Spartak took second place and a Champions League berth with a 2-0 win at Lokomotiv Moscow.
Eremenko continued a good week after his long-range strike gave Rubin a 1-0 win in the Russian Cup final Wednesday, and a place in the Europa League as a result.
CSKA opened the scoring a minute before half time when Keisuke Honda picked up Swedish midfielder Pontus Wernbloom’s 30-yard lobbed pass and easily outpaced Roman Sharonov before slotting the ball past Rubin goalkeeper Sergei Ryzhikov.
Sharonov, 35, was a surprise pick when Dick Advocaat announced the preliminary Russia squad for Euro 2012 on Friday but seemed slow and surprised by the trajectory of Wernbloom’s pass.
Two minutes after the restart, Eremenko played a through ball for former Borussia Dortmund striker Nelson Haedo Valdes, who beat the CSKA offside trap and calmly scored with a placed shot.
Rubin took the lead when substitute full-back Oleg Kuzmin sprinted clear of the CSKA defense off Eremenko’s pass on 81 minutes and Igor Akinfeev parried the shot, only to leave Gokdeniz Karadeniz with an open goal.
Rubin sealed the win seven minutes later as Karadeniz turned provider, sending Eremenko clear with a clever backheel flick and leaving him with a simple finish.
The match started quietly, although Karadeniz tested CSKA’s right flank with some probing early runs, before Eremenko tried and failed to replicate the long-range drive that won Rubin the Russian Cup on Wednesday.
On 16 minutes, Honda combined with Premier League top scorer Seydou Doumbia to set up Sekou Oliseh in a good position, but the Nigerian ran too deep and his eventual wild cross was easily caught by Ryzhikov.
Russia defender Alexei Berezutsky brought down Karadeniz as he dribbled into the CSKA box on 25 minutes, and the Turk appealed for a penalty that referee Vladislav Bezborodov refused to grant.
CSKA enjoyed their best chance of the match so far on 33 minutes when Oliseh picked up the ball in space in the box before finding Doumbia, whose weak shot was easily saved by Ryzhikov.
After Valdes’ equalizer, CSKA pushed forward but it was Rubin that came closest to a second goal as Eremenko, deep in the CSKA box, cut the ball back for Natkho, who attempted to smash the ball home but saw his effort blocked by defender Georgi Schennikov.
Ryzhikov was pressed into service again on 74 minutes as he parried substitute Tomas Necid’s long shot, and was at full stretch again two minutes later to stop another speculative attempt from the Czech forward.
After Karadeniz and Eremenko’s goals, Rubin held on to win as CSKA failed to string together any meaningful attacks.
