The Muscovites needed only 45 minutes to crush the visitors Tom, who conceded three goals before the interval.

Spartak captain Martin Jiranek set the pace 15 minutes into the game, heading the ball into the net from an Alex set piece.

The next goal came just ten minutes later, thanks to a nice dribbling effort by the newcomer from Khimki, Eldar Nizamutdinov. His attempt failed, but youngster Yakovlev picked up and made no mistake to take his side two up.

Brazilian Alex set up the third goal as well after his cross found Martin Jiranek, whose header hit the post. Defender Egor Filipenko appeared in the right place at the right time to score against the team, where he was on loan at the beginning of this season.

So, 3-0 after the first half and Tom coach Valery Nepomnyashchy already knew that it was the end.

“I don’t know what to do after such games – whether to shoot myself or resign. However, I’ll do none of that. Spartak were hungry for goals tonight, while we had some selection problems,” Nepomnyashchy told journalists after the game.

The Spartak players came out more relaxed after the break and that didn't go unnoticed by the visitors. Tom players applied pressure on Soslan Djanaev's goal at the beginning of the second, however, that did not lead to anything at all.

The Muscovites were by far the more inventive in their attacks, which led to an inevitable crushing victory. Denis Boyarintsev assisted in goal number four after flicking the ball back to Eldar Nizamutdinov, who added a goal to his extraordinary performance on Sunday.

Then Valery Karpin substituted Pavel Yakovlev for Quincy, who's also spent some time away from the team on loan. Eager to prove his worth, the Dutch player sealed it for the Muscovites after an assist from Alex, curving the ball into the far right corner.

“I think at the beginning of the game no one could predict this score, although I’m not quite satisfied with our performance. We faced some difficulties tonight because of the recent poor results. But we’re happy to win the game and keep pressure on Rubin,” Spartak coach Sergey Rodionov said.

Spartak will be traveling to Perm next week to face Amkar, who haven't lost a single match since taking on their new head coach Rashid Rakhimov. Last time out, Amkar surprisingly won in Kazan against reigning champions and current league leaders Rubin.

And with just seven matches left to play, Spartak cannot afford to lose any points as they look to stay in the race for the title.

Terek 2-1 Lokomotiv

Elsewhere on Sunday, Lokomotiv suffered a 2-1 loss to Terek in Grozny.

The home side got their noses in front on twenty-four minutes through Zaur Sadaev. Loko allowed Terek to double their lead with a piece of sloppy defending in the second half. Shamil Lakhiyalov took full advantage of that.

Captain Rodolfo gave the Muscovites hope ten minutes from time, however his fine finish was unable to spark a fightback.

The loss sees Lokomotiv stay in fifth, nine points adrift of leaders Rubin.

Spartak Nalchik 1-0 Rostov

Spartak Nalchik moved out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win against Rostov.

Nalchik seemed to have opened the scoring just after half time, when Marat Bikmaev curved in an amazing corner kick. But it was ruled out due to a foul on the Rostov keeper.

Nalchik weren't discouraged though. Bikmaev turned into the provider to set up Shamil Asildarov for what turned out to be the only goal of a rain-drenched encounter.

Kuban 0-0 Krylya Sovetov

Sunday's final game saw Kuban up against Krylya Sovetov. A goalless draw left Kuban still in the relegation zone.