Vitinho seals CSKA’s late comeback win in Spartak derby

MOSCOW: Brazilian midfielder Vitinho grabbed a late winner as CSKA scored twice in the last seven minutes to complete a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over defending Russian champions Spartak in the Moscow derby on Saturday.

After former Chelsea midfielder Mario Pasalic gave Spartak the lead early in the second half, left back Georgy Shchennikov levelled in the 83rd minute before Vitinho sealed CSKA’s hard-fought win a minute later.

The result lifted CSKA into fourth in the table, just one point behind leaders Zenit St Petersburg, Lokomotiv Moscow and Rostov, who claimed a 4-1 win at Ufa.

Zenit and Lokomotiv will take on Akhmat Grozny and promoted Tosno respectively on Sunday.

“Today we were the better side and would not have deserved to lose,” said CSKA manager Viktor Gancharenko.

“I’m proud of my men who showed strong character against very strong opponents.”

Spartak’s recent loan signing Pasalic gave the defending champions the lead three minutes after the interval, beating CSKA ‘keeper Igor Akinfeev with a longrange shot.

But Shchennikov pulled CSKA level off following a right-wing cross by Alexander Golovin before Vitinho grabbed the headlines, firing the ball into the net with a low shot from 25 yards.

Spartak boss Massimo Carrera said: “My men gave it all they had today. Unfortunately it was not enough to win.”

Rostov also battled back from a goal down to claim a confident win at Ufa.

Czech midfielder Ondrej Vanek put Ufa into the lead in the 55th minute but Rostov skipper Alexandru Gatcan levelled just two minutes later before Belarus winger Timofei Kalachev added a brace.

Slovenian back Miha Mevlja rounded off the scoring with 13 minutes to go.

“My main goal is to create a strong team,” Rostov head coach Leonid Kuchuk said. “It’s a long and hard work. But today’s win shows we’re moving in the right direction.” - AFP