Roman Pavlyuchenko's second-half header against his old club Spartak Moscow proved crucial as Lokomotiv Moscow recovered from a goal down to win 2-1.
The victory shores up Lokomotiv coach Slaven Bilic's position after an indifferent start to the season and lifts the Railwaymen to fifth, while Spartak drop to seventh, four points off leaders Zenit St. Petersburg and one adrift of Lokomotiv.
Pavlyuchenko's winner came on 66 minutes as Spartak failed to track his movement at a free-kick. The former Tottenham Hotspur man took full advantage to score with a low header.
Lokomotiv may have Spartak's own fans to thank for the goal as Alexander Samedov was twice interrupted taking the free-kick by loud pyrotechnic bangs from the Spartak ultras' sector, which seemed to unnerve the Spartak defenders, who barely reacted when the ball was finally played.
Spartak scored the opener on six minutes when, on the edge of the box, Artem Dzyuba laid the ball off to his left with a cushioned pass and the advancing Dmitry Kombarov struck a low shot from the left corner of the box past Dikan at the far post.
Senegalese striker Dame N'Doye drew Lokomotiv level on 61 minutes, exploiting gaps in Spartak's set-piece marking to head in Samedov's free-kick at the far post.
Another player who faced his former club was Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, but the ex-Everton man made little impact off the bench.
Aiden McGeady and Dmitry Kombarov almost combined for a second goal on 15 minutes when McGeady lofted a free-kick to the left-back at the far post, but Kombarov skewed his shot across the goal and wide.
N'Doye had the Railwaymen's first good chance of the match on 22 minutes when he picked up a loose ball in the box after a fumbled Spartak clearance, but the Senegalese forward stumbled before sending a weak shot at Dikan in goal.
Seven minutes later, a McGeady free-kick found its way to Demy de Zeeuw, but the Dutchman failed to connect.
The half ended with two more missed chances as McGeady mishit a 20-yard effort seconds after N'Doye nodded a feeble header into Dikan's grateful arms.
Bilic opted to bring on a second striker at half-time, swapping midfielder Magomed Ozdoev for Pavlyuchenko, and the former Spurs man got involved immediately, shooting wide from 20 yards.
Spartak twice missed chances to equalize in stoppage time, first when McGeady scooped a weak effort into Dario Kresic's arms, then Emmanuel Emenike twice failed to score from good positions.
Deep into stoppage time, McGeady played a ball over the top into the box, but a crowd of Spartak players all contrived to miss it.
Elsewhere Sunday, Anzhi Makhachkala beat Krylya Sovetov 2-1 on goals from Christopher Samba and Lacina Traore.
Also, CSKA Moscow edged past a resilient FC Krasnodar with a 1-0 away win; and a stoppage-time goal from Armenian striker Aras Ozbiliz consigned Dan Petrescu’s Dynamo Moscow to a 2-1 home defeat to his former charges FC Kuban.
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 striker 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.
