CSKA Moscow football club has defeated its main rival, Spartak Moscow, 2:1 and so returned to winning ways in the Russian Premier League.

      This victory, CSKA's first in the league since October, has driven the club closer to the league's top club Zenit St. Petersburg, who thrashed Dynamo Moscow 5-1 on Friday.

      As the end of the season is very close, the both teams took the game seriously. Spartak was better in controlling the ball, while CSKA showed their best in passes and counter-attacks.

      The first goal was made by CSKA's Zoran Tosic, who beat the Spartak offside trap and slid a placed shot past Andriy Dikan that bounced in off the far post.

      Spartak responded five minutes after the restart, when Artem Dzyuba delivered a powerful shot from the edge of the box right into the top corner of CSKA's net.

      Ten minutes later, Seydou Doumbia firmly established CSKA's success by scoring his 26th goal in 33 games this season, thanks to Ahmed Musa's accurate pass.

      CSKA took the lead but went on to blow a string of chances to make the win more comfortable.

      "We played a decent, high-quality match," CSKA coach Leonid Slutsky said. "The score doesn't reflect what happened on the pitch, bearing in mind the number of chances we had."

      Thanks to this victory, CSKA Moscow has kept their second place in the Russian Football Premier League, scoring 64 points in 35 matches. The league's leader, Zenit St. Petersburg, now has 70points. Spartak Moscow has 59 points and takes the fifth place in the league. It's unlikely that clubs will change their places, as the season is almost over.

Sources: Lenta.ru RIA Novosti Image: diver-saint.ru