MOSCOW, November 1 (RIA Novosti) - Spartak...

The championship is now a two-horse race following Zenit St. Petersburg"s 1-0 defeat by FC Moskva on Saturday, which leaves the two clubs level on points in third place.

With Rubin throwing down the gauntlet on Friday night with a 4-1 drubbing of Krylya Sovetov - their best league result since early September - Spartak responded in fine style, taking a 2-0 lead in at half time and scoring three in the second half after Rostov had pulled one back five minutes after the break.

Rostov were on the back foot from the start, relying on counterattacks even before Brazilian Alex opened the scoring in the 19th minute. Eighteen-year-old Pavel Yakovlev came off the bench in after 25 minutes and got the second a quarter of an hour later.

Although Moldovan Alexandr Gatcan got Rostov back in the game in the 51st minute, Alex added his second just before the hour, giving himself 10 league goals for the year, and another of Spartak"s young talents, 17-year-old Georgian Zhano

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