A second-half strike from Ahmed Musa edged CSKA Moscow past a resilient FC Krasnodar in the Russian Premier League on Sunday.
The 1-0 victory saw CSKA move to third place in the table with 15 points, one short of joint leaders Zenit St. Petersburg and Terek Grozny.
City rivals Spartak and Lokomotiv, both on 12 points, have the chance to reel in CSKA in later when they clash in their seventh-round derby.
CSKA, looking to bounce back from Thursday's humiliating Europa League playoff defeat to AIK of Sweden, had the lion's share of possession but failed to capitalize, again exposing their dependence on injured striker Seydou Doumbia.
Krasnodar refused to be overawed and put together several decent moves, coming close on a few occasions.
That wasn't enough for coach Slavoljub Muslin, however.
"They are not winners, they are not used to playing big teams, they were afraid," said Krasnodar head coach Slavoljub Muslin after the game.
The only goal came on the hour mark with a CSKA counterattack started by Vasily Berezutsky.
The Russia defender whipped in a low cross from the right, which Musa controlled with his first touch and sent past goalkeeper Nukri Revishvili with his second.
Alan Dzagoev had an early effort that was cleared off the line by Krasnodar's Bosnian defender Ognjen Vranjes as CSKA seized the initiative. Krasnodar had their best chance in the first half on 12 minutes as Serbian midfielder Nikola Drincic sent a long shot just wide.
After the break both teams started brightly.
Krasnodar forward Yura Movsisyan failed to score his seventh league goal of the season as he was inches from connecting with a Ruslan Nakhushev cross just before CSKA scored.
CSKA took the lead and maintained the pressure on the Krasnodar goal. Pavel Mamaev hit the post after the pass from the Chilean midfielder Mark Gonzalez with two minutes remaining.
On Saturday, Terek Grozny continued their astonishing start with a 2-1 away win over 10-man Rubin Kazan thanks to a late winner from Magomed Mitrishev; and a late equalizer from striker Alexei Sapogov gave 10-man FC Volga a 1-1 draw against FC Rostov.
A 70th-minute strike from Hungarian midfielder Tamas Priskin saved newly promoted Alania Vladikavkaz from a home defeat against Amkar Perm, as the teams played a 1-1 draw.
In Friday's only game, Zenit secured a 3-0 away victory against newly promoted Mordovia Saransk with striker Alexander Kerzhakov bagging a brace.
Later Sunday, Dan Petrescu’s Dynamo Moscow face his former club FC Kuban and Krylya Sovetov Samara host Anzhi Makhachkala.
