MOSCOW, November 26 (R-Sport) - A late penalty from on-form midfielder Rasmus Elm gave Russian league leaders CSKA Moscow a 1-0 win over reigning champions Zenit St. Petersburg on Monday in a match played behind closed doors.
Third-placed Zenit stay six points adrift of CSKA but close to three off second-placed Anzhi, while CSKA saw their six-game winning streak end.
Fans were banned from the match as part of Zenit’s punishment over an incident at an abandoned game against Dynamo Moscow earlier this month, when a pyrotechnic thrown from the Zenit end injured Dynamo’s goalkeeper.
Zenit dominated the match throughout, recording an impressive 73 percent possession in the first half but were rarely able to unpick a determined CSKA defense.
Elm scored his fifth goal in the last six games from the spot on 85 minutes after the referee ruled Alan Dzagoev had been fouled when he was held by Zenit’s Tomas Hubocan.
Renat Yanbaev had put Zenit ahead 10 minutes after the break with a calm low finish across goal following a neat one-two with Viktor Faizulin.
On Friday, FC Rostov beat a woeful Mordovia Saransk side 2-0.
Saturday saw Terek Grozny beat Alania Vladikavkaz 1-0 before Lokomotiv Moscow defeated FC Krasnodar 3-2, and on Sunday Dynamo Moscow ended Spartak Moscow coach Unai Emery's reign with a 5-1 thrashing before FC Kuban thumped Krylya Sovetov 4-1.
Earlier Monday, Anzhi Makhachkala beat Amkar Perm 2-1 thanks to a late Oleg Shatov goal, before Rubin Kazan and FC Volga played out a goalless draw.
