St. Petersburg’s Zenit secured a victory over Moscow CSKA in a penalty shootout to win their Winter Cup clash within the Russian Premier League framework. The regular time finished in a 2-2 draw after a back-and-forth battle that delivered momentum shifts and late drama. Zenit opened the scoring in the 49th minute when Douglas Dos Santos found the net, his strike rewarded with a neat finish that pierced the CSKA defense. Eight minutes later, Matvey Kislyak equalized, restoring parity and setting up a tense second half. In the 88th minute, Artem Shumansky appeared to tilt the balance in favor of the army club, drilling a decisive goal to move CSKA ahead. But in stoppage time, Alexander leveled the score again to force penalties.
The shootout saw Zenit prevail 4-1 as the decisive kicks were converted by the visitors while CSKA missed a penalty opportunity. The result handed Zenit the win from the spot, while CSKA earned nothing more from the fixture beyond the group-stage points that were already on the table.
In the group standings, CSKA gathered four points in Group B, while Zenit collected two. Rostov finished last without a point and will meet Zenit in the next round. CSKA completed its group-stage campaign with the result from this clash in mind, shaping how the rest of the group would unfold.
The online coverage highlighted the dramatic clash as a notable moment in the early season, drawing wide attention to the match and its late twists. After the autumn portion of the season, the league leader stood at 39 points, while Zenit faced a few head-to-head results that left some teams with better records than others. Spartak Moscow, sitting third, had 37 points, and CSKA was in sixth place with 31 points as the standings evolved through the campaign.
The Russian Championship schedule resumes on February 28, with teams eager to apply the lessons from this winter contest to the ongoing campaign. Earlier in the season, Dynamo Moscow and Krasnodar faced off in a Winter Cup fixture, adding to the competitive texture of the early rounds and keeping the league’s momentum high for fans and clubs alike.