Baltika 1-2 Spartak Moscow: Solari's winner keeps Spartak in title race (full highlights)

Spartak Moscow secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Baltika Kaliningrad at the Rostech Arena in the Russian Premier League's 4th round, climbing to 3rd place in the table with 9 points, just three behind leaders Zenit, as they continue their pursuit of the title. Manfred Ugalde opened the scoring in the 20th minute, finishing from Mirind Daku's cross from the left flank, but Baltika responded immediately through Andrey Mendel's powerful strike from outside the box in the 23rd minute, which arrowed into the bottom corner for his first goal of the season. The second half saw Pablo Solari, introduced at the break for Ruslan Litvinov, score the winner in the 49th minute after Daniil Khlusevich's delivery from the left, securing his fourth goal in as many matches this season. The match was a tense affair with several yellow cards: Mingiyan Beveev (47'), Ayman Murid (73'), Christopher Vou (76'), Nikolay Titkov (76'), Gerson Fernandes (76'), and Eduardo Anderson (76') all received bookings, making it one of the most ill-tempered games of the round. Spartak dominated with 13 shots to Baltika's 8, 54% possession, and created 5 clear-cut chances compared to the hosts' 3. With this result, Spartak climb to 3rd place, while Baltika drop to 11th with just 4 points. The full match highlights and all goals are available to watch, showcasing Spartak's growing momentum in the title race and highlighting Baltika's need to improve their finishing if they are to avoid the relegation zone.