Zenit St. Petersburg drew 0-0 with Terek Grozny in Chechnya on Monday evening to move four points clear of reigning champions Rubin, who have played two games more.
Terek had not failed to take less than a point from their Grozny fortress this season, and both teams seemed content with a point apiece.
Rubin beat Anzhi 1-0 in Dagestan with an injury time goal from Turkish midfielder Gokdeniz Karadeniz on Sunday.
In other games on Monday evening, CSKA Moscow beat bottom club Sibir 1-0, the only goal coming from Nigerian midfielder Sekou Oliseh in the 73rd minute.
CSKA are in third place on 39 points, but have played the same number of games as Zenit.
Spartak Moscow followed up on their recent Champions League victory in France with a 2-0 away victory over surprise outfit Spartak Nalchik, both goals well-taken efforts by Brazilian striker Ari.
Table (21 games played unless stated)
Zenit - 47 (19 games)
Rubin Kazan - 43
CSKA Moscow - 39 (19 games)
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Rostov - 33
Spartak Nalchik - 33
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Spartak Moscow - 32 (20 games)
Terek Grozny - 28
Lokomotiv Moscow - 27
Tom Tomsk - 26
Dynamo Moscow - 26 (20 games)
Saturn - 24
Anzhi - 23
Alaniya - 23
Amkar - 21
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Krilya Sovetov - 16
Sibir - 12
MOSCOW, September 20 (RIA Novosti)
