Dynamo Moscow battled back from a goal down to grab a 2-1 win over nine-man Kuban Krasnodar on Sunday to keep alive their hopes of a Champions League place next season.

Zenit St Petersburg, who drew 1-1 with Spartak Moscow on Saturday, lead the Russian league nine points clear of FC Krasnodar, who face Arsenal Tula on Monday.

In an increasingly tense end-of-season battle, Dynamo are now level on points with defending champions CSKA and four points behind Krasnodar.

Kuban went 1-0 up in the 23rd minute when Bulgarian midfielder Ivelin Popov found Hugo Almeida unmarked in the area and Portuguese international kept his cool to fire under the crossbar from 10 metres.

Brazilian defender Douglas pulled the scores level in the 69th minute when he swept the ball in from close range off a well-struck freekick by Hungarian right winger Balazs Dzsudzsak.

Kuban’s Brazilian back Xandao scored an own goal five minutes later attempting to clear Alexander Kokorin’s cross.

Kuban poured forward seeking an equaliser. But Bulgarian defender Stanislav Manolev was sent off in the 86th minute for a second bookable offence. Romanian forward Gheorghe Bucur received a direct red card three minutes later.

“We played well enough in the first half but after we conceded a goal we needed to improve the situation,” said Dynamo manager Stanislav Cherchesov who ordered two half time substitutions.