Emmanuel Emenike bagged a brace of goals as Spartak Moscow cruised to a 3-1 home win over FC Rostov in the Russian Premier League on Sunday.
The victory ends a three-game winless run for Spartak, who stay sixth but go within five points of leaders and derby rivals CSKA Moscow. Rostov are 12th.
There were worries for Spartak coach Unai Emery as new signings Jose Manuel Jurado and Romulo both picked up injuries.
"The main thing for the team and for the club is the three points that we won," Spartak coach Unai Emery said.
"The path that leads us to a confident victory, that's something we still have to work on."
Rostov spurned chances to get points from the game, the visitors' coach Miodrag Bozovic said.
"We started better than Spartak, we controlled the game in the first 15 minutes. If we'd scored, then maybe something would have been different," he said.
"We made mistakes and Spartak tood advantage of them."
Emenike gave Spartak the lead on 27 minutes with a well struck low shot from 25 yards that eluded goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa.
Ari made it two on 64 minutes, calmly controlling a poor Rostov headed clearance at a corner before firing a volley into the top-right corner.
Emenike’s second and Spartak’s third came on 71 minutes when he used his strength to hold off defender Ivan Getigezhev and tapped in Pavel Yakovlev’s low pull-back cross.
Rostov picked up a consolation two minutes from time with Florent Sinama-Pongolle’s first goal for the club, the ex-Liverpool man beating Juan Manuel Insaurralde before scoring with a shot that went in off the post.
Spartak’s margin of victory could easily have been bigger, as Emenike and Ari missed headers from close range in the first half and Ari scooped a shot over the bar when one-on-one with Pletikosa on 76 minutes.
David Bentley, on loan at Rostov from Tottenham Hotspur, would have sent Rostov into the break on level terms with a smartly-struck free-kick, but Spartak goalkeeper Andriy Dikan displayed good reflexes in a diving save.
On Friday, FC Krasnodar thrashed Mordovia Saransk 6-1 in the weekend’s opening fixture.
In Saturday’s games, Zenit St. Petersburg drew 2-2 with Krylya Sovetov, CSKA beat FC Volga 3-2 and Dynamo Moscow defeated Amkar Perm by the same score, before Lokomotiv Moscow ended Terek Grozny’s five-game winning run with a 3-0 win.
Later Sunday, Rubin Kazan play FC Kuban, before Monday’s Caucasus derby between Alania Vladikavkaz and Anzhi ends the round of games.
