Nizhny Novgorod beat Neftekhimik 5:1 at home in the first league regular season on Saturday. The hosts stretched their unbeaten run to five matches, with Grulev opening the scoring inside seven minutes and adding two more before the break.
By then the visitors had already fallen behind twice. Grulev struck at seven and nine minutes, then added a third at twenty-one to put the tie beyond doubt. The visitors had a chance to respond when the half ended, but Nizhny took the lead into the break with an advantage they would not relinquish.
The second half brought more to the scoreboard. Popolitov doubled his tally at forty-nine, and Gudkov made it five at sixty-seven. Neftekhimik pulled one back through Mukba at eighty-eight, but the damage was done. There were substitutions throughout — Neftekhimik brought on Sitdikov and Maiga at the interval, while Nizhny changed Grulev and Gudkov in the second period.
Statistically, the match told the same story. Nizhny held fifty-four percent possession and registered six shots, three on target. Neftekhimik managed forty-six percent possession with seven attempts but only two on target. The visitors earned four corners to the hosts' zero, but that meant little when the shots did not find the net.
The result leaves Nizhny Novgorod top of the table with twenty-five points from ten matches, eight wins and one draw. Neftekhimik sit ninth on twelve points, four wins from ten, six defeats. The gap between them widened, and the hosts picked up where they left off against Shinnik.