Yura Movsisyan scored a hat-trick to help Spartak Moscow to an entertaining 4-2 win over Russian Premier League leaders Zenit St.Petersburg on Sunday and surge into second place, according to R-Sport.ru.
Spartak join Lokomotiv Moscow on 33 points, just three behind Zenit. Luciano Spalletti’s men suffer only their second defeat of the season and first in 14 games.
Zenit took the lead in simple fashion after just six minutes, when Alexander Kerzhakov slotted home a cross from Domenico Criscito. American-Armenian striker Movsisyan leveled the scores on 33 minutes by heading in Denis Glushakov’s corner at the near post.
The Spartak forward then mercilessly punished Hubocan’s failed clearance by smashing a low left-foot drive into the corner and giving the hosts a lead they barely deserved at that stage.
Spartak’s Tino Costa ranked a boot down Axel Witsel’s heel to concede a clear penalty on 16 minutes, but Hulk’s fiercely struck spot-kick was brilliantly saved by Artem Rebrov.
The 26-year-old Movsisyan completed his hat-trick in style three minutes into the second half, volleying home Tino Costa’s cross from 12 yards. The goal completed his second hat-trick since joining Spartak from FC Kuban last year and his 12th strike of the season, taking him to the top of the scoring charts alongside FC Rostov striker Artem Dzyuba, who is on loan from Spartak.
Hulk made it 3-2 with an unstoppable free-kick just after the hour mark as Zenit tried to wrestle back control of the game, but Denis Glushakov killed off their hopes with a stunning dribble past three defenders before slotting under Yuri Lodygin. It was the Russia midfielder’s first goal since joining from Lokomotiv over the summer.
Yura Movsusyan is currently on top of the list of the best goal-scorers in the Russian league. After the match Movsisyan presented his shirt to Armenian football legend Nikita Simonyan.
