Ari struck a crucial goal as Spartak Moscow put an end to Amkar Perm’s year-long unbeaten home record with a 3-1 victory Saturday.
The win lifts Spartak to fifth, two points behind leaders CSKA Moscow, who have a game in hand. Amkar stay ninth.
The hosts took a surprise lead on 22 minutes when Pavel Ignatovich struck a low shot from outside the area into the far corner of the net, taking goalkeeper Andriy Dikan by surprise.
Shortly before, Amkar’s Sergei Volkov had wasted a golden opportunity when he hit Dikan’s legs from a yard out.
Spartak struck back through a curling direct free-kick from new signing Kim Kallstrom on 33 minutes, the Sweden midfielder’s first goal for Spartak.
The tide turned three minutes after the break when Amkar goalkeeper Sergei Narubin was shown a straight red card for stopping an Emmanuel Emenike shot with his hands despite being well outside his penalty area.
Ari hit the winner on 67 minutes when the Amkar defense failed to deal with a cross and the ball fell to the Brazilian for a simple finish following a scramble in the penalty area.
Deep in stoppage time, Spartak striker Artem Dzyuba put gloss on the scoreline when he headed past replacement keeper Roman Gerus from a free-kick, shortly after Gerus had denied Ari a second goal with a reflex save.
"I have to stay thanks to our players, who, even when a man down, tried to press and attack and alter the score," Amkar coach Nikolai Trubachev said in televised comments.
Prior to the match, Amkar had gone unbeaten at home in all competitions since September 25 last year.
Earlier Saturday, Zenit St. Petersburg and Lokomotiv Moscow drew 1-1 in a bad-tempered game that saw both sides lose a player to a red card.
Later Saturday, Terek Grozny can climb back to the top of the league with a win at FC Kuban.
On Sunday, leaders CSKA Moscow play Dan Petrescu’s Dynamo, Guus Hiddink’s Anzhi host FC Volga, and Rubin Kazan travel to David Bentley's FC Rostov.
Krylya Sovetov face Krasnodar on Monday, before Mordovia Saransk host Alania Vladikavkaz in a battle of the two newly promoted sides.
