Ponce pounces late on to cancel out Erokhin opener

Spartak Moscow 1-1 Zenit St. Petersburg
Saturday 3 October, Otkritie Arena 

Goals: Spartak - Ezequiel Ponce (86); Zenit - Aleksandr Erokhin (65)
Man of the Match: Aleksandr Maksimenko (Spartak) 

Zenit were denied the chance to go three points clear by a late Ezequiel Ponce strike. Aleksandr Erokhin had finally broken Aleksandr Maksimenko's heroic resistance in the second half to hand Zenit the advantage. Maksimenko had already broken his personal record for saves in an RPL match with 10, but was helpless to prevent Erokhin stabbing home Artem Dzyuba's header. 

Ezequiel Ponce saw a late header tipped onto the post by Mikhail Kerzhakov - and then blasted over the rebound from a tight angle - but made amends with a pin-point finish from just inside the area with mere minutes remaining. 

The status quo was maintained with Zenit still top and Spartak second, both on 21 points. 

Next RPL fixtures (17/18 October): FC Khimki vs Spartak Moscow; Zenit St. Petersburg vs FC Sochi.