Dinamo, Spartak keep up chase

Dinamo Moscow inched closer to Russian Premier League leaders Zenit St Petersburg and CSKA Moscow following a 2-1 win at home over Kuban Krasnodar on Sunday. Reigning champions Zenit top the table with 62 points from 31 matches, three points ahead of second-placed CSKA, while Dinamo are now in third with 58 points. Russian international midfielder Igor Semshov had put Dinamo one-goal up in the 19th minute, firing into the net from German team-mate Kevin Kuranyi's through pass. Forward Alexander Kokorin increased Dinamo's lead in the 28th minute sending home a rebound after Alexander Samedov's well-struck free-kick. After the interval Dinamo eased up pressure allowing the guests to reduce the arrears through full-back Roman Bugaev, who scored a consolation with a 25-metre shot in the 59th minute but failed to save the day for Kuban. "Today we were the better side and won the match deservedly," Dinamo coach Sergei Silkin said. "Though I was concerned about the season-ending matches as the players experience a lack of concentration at the end of the long season." Today we were the better side and won the match deservedly. Sergei Silkin, Dinamo coach "We lost the initiative after the break looking less impressive and paying more attention to our defence. But though we allowed Kuban to score our lead was never in doubt." Meanwhile, Russia's nine-time champions Spartak Moscow recorded a comfortable 2-0 win over city rivals Lokomotiv to take the fourth spot in the league's table. Spartak looked more focused from the start and went into the lead in the 26th minute through Nigerian striker Emmanuel Emenike, who received Dmitry Kombarov's pass into the area and outplayed Lokomotiv goalkeeper Guilherme to send the ball into an unguarded net. In the 44th minute, Emenike scored his second goal with a close-range shot following defender Sergei Parshivlyuk's cross to secure Spartak's lead. After the interval Spartak were able to sit comfortably on their advantage. "We are moving in the right direction," Spartak manager Valery Karpin said. "In summer we were 13 points behind the leaders. Now we are closer and have two matches ahead both against Zenit and CSKA. So everything is still possible for us."