Pavel Ignatovich's early goal was enough to give Russian Premier League minnows Amkar Perm a shock 1-0 win at Rubin Kazan on Sunday.
The 23-year-old forward scored in the third minute, sidefooting into an empty net after Igor Pikushchak had cleverly drawn out goalkeeper Sergei Ryzhikov by feigning a shot.
The Ural Mountains side's fourth victory of the season lifts them to ninth in the league on 15 points, three behind Rubin, who remain in seventh.
Amkar had Bulgarian defender Zakhary Sirakov sent off in second-half injury time after a second yellow card.
Rubin's erratic form continues, with Kurban Berdyev unable to re-impose the kind of stability in the side that took them to back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009.
Rubin's best chances came on the hour mark and in the dying minutes.
Right back Oleg Kuzmin burst through on the right, but he sliced his shot wide of the mark from eight yards out. In the very next attack, Salomon Rondon had a snap volley saved by Roman Gerus in the Amkar goal.
Ignatovich had the chance to seal it for Amkar on 86 minutes, but Ryzhikov was equal to it.
The home side then should have leveled it, but Gerus dived to his right to superbly stop away a fierce shot from Artur Ryabokobylenko.
Earlier in the day, table-topping Anzhi Makhachkala stretched their lead to four points with a 2-0 win at Dynamo Moscow.
Spartak and CSKA clash in a Moscow derby later Sunday, before FC Krasnodar entertain champions Zenit St. Petersburg.
