A late diving header from Swedish midfielder Pontus Wernbloom gave CSKA Moscow a win at Terek Grozny and the lead in the Russian Premier League.
CSKA go top of the table by one point, ahead of former leaders Anzhi’s game against Rubin Kazan later Sunday, while Terek stay fourth.
Wernbloom’s quick reactions won the day in the 87th minute when the Swede dived to head home a free-kick from fellow Sweden international Rasmus Elm for his first goal of the season.
Earlier, Terek had taken a 1-0 lead through Brazilian striker Ailton, who scored with a powerful shot after just eight minutes.
CSKA responded through Keisuke Honda on 25 minutes, when the Japanese midfielder scored with a low volley from a cross by young full-back Georgy Shchennikov.
"Fantastic win in Groznyj! Now back to a cold Moscow with our 3 points," Wernbloom said on Twitter.
"The game didn't turn out as planned, but the game was pretty tense," Terek coach Stanislav Cherchesov said in televised comments, adding that "the CSKA player's class" had decided the match.
The visitors dominated possession throughout, but Terek kept up well, in keeping with their status as one of the most surprising title contenders this season so far.
On the stroke of half-time, CSKA were extremely fortunate not to concede when their defense managed to block two shots from Oleg Ivanov and one from Ailton in a frenetic goalmouth scramble.
On 63 minutes, a misplaced Terek clearance almost spelled disaster for Terek when it fell to Elm, whose long-range dipping shot was only just saved by goalkeeper Yaroslav Godzyur.
Two minutes later, only a last-ditch challenge from Marcin Komorowski stopped CSKA’s Ahmed Musa, bearing down on the Terek goal after a clever backheel flick from Honda.
CSKA almost went ahead on 77 minutes when Godzyur parried a stinging shot from Honda into the path of Aleksandrs Cauna, but the Latvian contrived to smash his shot wide of the post when faced with an unguarded goal.
Earlier Sunday, Alexander Kokorin’s early goal gave Dan Petrescu’s Dynamo Moscow a 1-0 win at home to Krylya Sovetov.
Saturday saw Spartak Moscow beating Mordovia Saransk 2-0 at home, while FC Krasnodar drew 1-1 away to last placed side FC Volga.
A brace from Alexander Kerzhakov brought Zenit St. Petersburg a 3-2 victory away to minnows Alania Vladikavkaz.
On Friday, Lokomotiv Moscow went down to a surprise 2-1 home defeat to Amkar Perm and a late goal from Bulgaria captain Ivelin Popov gave FC Kuban a 1-0 victory at home to FC Rostov.
