Moscow: A brace from midfielder Alexei Ionov saw Dynamo Moscow to a confident 2-0 home win over Ural Yekaterinburg at the Khimki Arena on Sunday.
The result lifted Dynamo up to second, alongside city rivals Spartak on 12 points, three behind the Premiership leaders Zenit St Petersburg, the only team with a perfect record still intact.
Dynamo took command from the kick-off and in the 20th minute Ionov put them 1-0 up with a close-range header from Balazs Dzsudzsak`s pass.
Ionov made it 2-0 four minutes before the break, firing home from 14 metres after a one-two with Artur Yusupov.
In the 69th minute, Ural were reduced to 10 men after Argentinian defender Pablo Fontanello was sent off for the second bookable offence.
"We performed well in the first half, having scored on two occasions," Dynamo manager Stanislav Cherchesov said.
"In the second we have been sitting on our advantage trying to spare our strength ahead of the return Europa League match with Omonia."
In Sunday`s other match, FC Krasnodar won 3-0 at Torpedo Moscow, to move into fourth, just one point behind Dynamo and Spartak.
After a goalless first half, midfielder Vladimir Bystrov put Krasnodar ahead with a powerful shot from the edge of the box just after the hour.
Brazilian forward Wanderson added a second two minutes later, while Uruguayan Mauricio Pereyra rounded off the scoring in injury time for Krasnodar`s third consecutive win.
"It was a terrible first half," FC Krasnodar head coach Oleg Kononov said.
"Recently we`ve played plenty of away matches with plenty of flights and it affected the team adversely.
"But all`s well that ends well as we`ve got all three points today."
Another Krasnodar side, Kuban, beat 2-1 Lokomotiv Moscow to go fourth.
Paraguayan defender Lorenzo Melgarejo put Kuban in front after 26 minutes with his seventh goal in the Premiership, while Bosnian back Toni Sunjic doubled the hosts` lead with a header from a corner 15 minutes later.
Portuguese midfielder Manuel Fernandes pulled one back for the railway-backed side from the penalty spot with 14 minutes to go after Brazilian Maicon was fouled in the area.
Kuban`s Nigerian striker Sekou Oliseh received his marching orders for a second yellow card in injury time.
AFP
First Published: Monday, August 25, 2014, 09:03
