Nelson Haedo Valdes rescued a 1-1 draw for Rubin Kazan away to leaders Zenit St. Petersburg in the Russian Premier League on Sunday.
The result extends Zenit’s lead over second-placed CSKA Moscow to seven points, but represents a missed opportunity for the St. Petersburg side to build a bigger advantage after CSKA lost 2-0 to Lokomotiv Moscow on Saturday.
Rubin remain sixth, five points behind third-placed Lokomotiv. Eight games remain.
Zenit pounced on 36 minutes when they won a free kick 30 yards out. Roman Shirokov took it quickly, flicking the ball over a crowd of Rubin players to set up Szabolcs Huszti, who slotted home his second goal in two league games since returning from injury last week.
A Zenit defensive mix-up allowed Rubin to equalise in similar circumstances on 58 minutes, Valdes reacting first to latch on to a ball over the top, which he knocked past Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev.
Deep into stoppage time, Roman Eremenko came close to giving Rubin their first league win against Zenit since 2008 when he shot from 35 yards, but saw his effort hit the crossbar.
Zenit dominated in the first half, and almost took the lead on 14 minutes when Alexander Kerzhakov was one on one with Rubin goalkeeper Ryzhikov, who gathered the ball from the advancing striker’s feet.
Vladimir Bystrov fired wide on the half-volley in the 33rd minute, before Huszti’s goal broke the deadlock three minutes later.
Rubin put pressure on Zenit several times, but only carved out one chance in the half, when Cesar Navas headed Eremenko’s cross into Malafeev’s arms.
The Kazan team started the second half brightly, threatening with efforts from Eremenko and Valdes within four minutes of the restart, before the Paraguyan scored on 58 minutes.
Five minutes after Valdes scored, he clashed heads with Zenit’s Nicolas Lombaerts while defending a free kick. Both players appeared dazed and were soon substituted and taken to hospital.
Zenit had a late chance when Shirokov played in Vladimir Bystrov, who almost burst through the Rubin defense but lost the ball in a challenge 20 yards out and unsuccessfully appealed for a free kick.
Five minutes into the game, Zenit fans staged a walkout in the area reserved for hardcore support, reportedly in protest at the police banning them from putting on a pre-match display of affection for the team.
Earlier Sunday, an own goal from Christian Noboa and an injury-time strike from Ari gave Spartak Moscow a 3-1 win at city rivals Dynamo; and a Hector Bracamonte strike and an overhead bicycle kick from Kornel Salata gave FC Rostov a 2-1 win over 10-man Spartak Nalchik.
Saturday saw Lokomotiv Moscow recover from a midweek thrashing by Rubin Kazan to win 2-0 away to CSKA Moscow and consolidate third place; while FC Tomsk and Krylya Sovetov played out a goalless draw; and Amkar stole a 1-0 win at Krasnodar.
