Krylya Sovetov are back in the Russian lead following a 0-1 win at Dinamo Moscow on Saturday. Rubin Kazan dropped to third place as the defending champions lost 0-2 to Spartak Moscow.
After a goalless first half at Rubin versus Spartak, the away side needed only six minutes in the second for Martin Stranzl to break the deadlock. Welliton made it 0-2 just after the hour.
In Moscow, Dinamo failed to impress against Krylya. The only goal of the match was scored by veteran Czech striker Jan Koller after 29 minutes.
Zenit St Petersburg beat FK Khimki and moved into second place. Fatih Tekke (2), Igor Semshov and Pavel Pogrebnyak scored the the 2008 UEFA Cup winners, while Ilia Maksimov and Alexander Antipenko did so for the guests.
On Sunday, CSKA could move into shared first place with Krylya but the capital city outfit will require a win over FK Rostov na Donu.