Zenit beat Terek to boost title ambitions

Moscow: Zenit St Petersburg further boosted their title ambitions on Wednesday when they battled back to a 2-1 win at Terek Grozny.

A third consecutive league win ensures Zenit remain comfortably top of the table with 54 points from 22 matches, 10 ahead of FC Krasnodar. Reigning champions CSKA Moscow are third on 43 points.

"My players did a fantastic job in the second half to turn the game around," Zenit manager Andre Villas-Boas said.

"For us it`s an even more important win than against CSKA because the midweek game is more difficult as everybody is tired."

Terek, spurred by their 20,000 home crowd, started lively with full back Andrei Semenov heading the hosts 1-0 up after 16 minutes from a well-served corner by Maciej Rybus.

Zenit replied just before the half-hour mark when captain Miguel Danny lobbed to Oleg Shatov and the Russian midfielder hammered past Terek `keeper Yevgeny Gorodov.

Venezuelan striker Jose Salomon Rondon volleyed home Zenit`s winner in the 58th minute after a powerful 30-metre freekick by Brazilian star Hulk hit the crossbar and bounced back into play.

CSKA, meanwhile, suffered their second consecutive Premiership 2-1 defeat, in Wednesday`s Moscow derby with Dynamo.

Midfielder Alexei Ionov put Dynamo in front in the ninth minute with CSKA`s Bulgarian midfielder Georgi Milanov levelling just six minutes later with a precise freekick.

Hungarian winger Balazs Dzsudzsak scored the winner for Dynamo, sending a 25-metre screamer precisely into top left-handed corner in the 24th minute.

"We played aggressively from the start as today we had no other choice but to earn points," Dynamo head coach Stanislav Cherchesov said.

"We`ve dropped points in three previous league matches but today I`m pleased with my team`s performance.

"We did well and won deservedly."