The presence of a drum-banging shaman in the stands failed to help Rubin avoid their third defeat of the season, Argentinean striker Hector Bracamonte heading in the winner from a free-kick in the 40th minute.
CSKA Moscow, whose manager Valery Gazzayev is to leave the club at the end of the season, overtook Dynamo Moscow with a 2-1 home win against Siberian side Tom Tomsk. CSKA striker Alan Dzagoev, recently called up to the national team by Guus Hiddink, scored his third goal in two games.
Dynamo Moscow, with a number of players missing through injury, made the perfect start in their match against Krilya Sovetov in Samara, shocking the home fans by taking a 2-0 lead with goals in the 13th and 42nd minutes. Krilya got one back before the break however, and then two goals by veteran Czech striker Jan Koller gave the home side the lead before Dynamo's Australian defender Luke Wilkshire salvaged a point for the Muscovites with a penalty deep into injury time.
Zenit St. Petersburg enjoyed the perfect warm-up for their Champions League clash with Real Madrid on Tuesday, beating Lokomotiv 3-0 in Moscow on Saturday afternoon. The victory was the Russian champions' third away win on the trot. Zenit move up to sixth.
In the 2009/10 season, for the first time ever, the top three teams in the Russian Premier League will qualify for the Champions League. The top two clubs will go into the group stages, with the third team forced to start in the second qualifying round. The fourth and fifth placed teams will enter the UEFA Cup. The bottom two sides are relegated.
Results -
Lokomotiv Moscow 0-3 Zenit
CSKA 2-1 Tom Tomsk
Rubin 0-1 FC Moskva
Krilya Sovetov 3-3 Dynamo
Shinnik 1-2 Spartak
Spartak Nalchik 2-2 Luch Energiya
Saturn 0 Amkar 0
Terek Grozny 1 Khimki 0
Table - (23 games unless stated)
Rubin - 48
CSKA Moscow - 41
Dynamo Moscow - 40
Amkar (Perm) - 39
Spartak Moscow - 36
Zenit St Petersburg - 34 (22 games)
Krilya Sovetov -34
Lokomotiv Moscow - 31 (22 games)
Spartak Nalchik - 29
FC Moskva -29
Terek Grozny -25
Tom Tomsk -25
Saturn -25 (22 games)
Luch-Energiya -19
Khimki -17
Shinnik -15 (22 games)