On Wednesday 27 October, nine Russian Premier Liga teams competed in the Russian Cup Elite Round matchday three away to FNL teams. Ural Ekaterinburg, Krylia Sovetov Samara, Akhmat Grozny, Krasnodar, Rostov, Khimki and Ufa all failed to make it through to the last 16.

Group 9: Enisey Krasnoyarsk 1-0 Krylia Sovetov Samara

Krylia Sovetov were the day’s first victims after their long trip out east to former RPL side Enisey Krasnoyarsk. They held out until the 83rd minute, when 21-year-old midfielder Nikita Razdorskikh netted the only goal of the game to leave Enisey on six points as group winners.

Group 6: Alania Vladikavkaz 2-0 Ufa 

The 1995 Russian champions went toe to toe with Ufa, holding them to a 0-0 scoreline at half time. David Kobesov put them in front with a penalty 10 minutes into the second half, before Batraz Khadartsev bagged a second with 20 minutes remaining. To make matters worse for Aleksey Stukalov’s side, substitute Bojan Jokic was then sent off a few moments later. Alania progress to the knockout rounds as group winners on a maximum six points.

Group 7: Rotor Volgograd 1-1 (4-2 pens) Akhmat Grozny

Matters were even more tense in Volgograd, where last season’s relegated side Rotor took Akhmat to a penalty shootout. They went in front in the first half through Fedor Pervushin, and although Daniil Utkin drew the RPL side level with 10 minutes to go, they fell to a 4-2 shootout defeat leaving them on four points, and Rotor on five as group winners.

Group 2: KAMAZ Naberezhnye Chelny 1-0 Ural Ekaterinburg

The FNL made it four wins out of four against RPL opposition as Kamaz - who had only been promoted to the second tier this summer - knocked out the 2017 and 2019 Russian Cup finalists Ural. Goalkeeper Oleg Baklov and defender Chingiz Magomadov, on loan from Ural, kept a clean sheet, allowing Tamerlan Musaev to snatch a last-minute winner to top the group on six points.

Group 4: Fakel Voronezh 0-1 Nizhny Novgorod

Perhaps it was ironic that the first top-flight side to secure a place in the last 16 tonight were the side that had never been at the highest level before - Nizhny Novgorod. They did have a helping hand of sorts, as home keeper Danila Ermakov was sent off before half time. Shortly after Nizhny Novgord took the lead through Ilya Berkovsky, and held onto their slender lead to win the group on six points.

Group 3: Veles Moscow 1-1 (3-4 pens) Arsenal Tula

Evans Kangwa put Arsenal Tula in front away to Veles alongside a rotated side that saw rare starts for Ruslan Kambolov, Aleksandr Dovbnya, Kirill Panchenko, Artem Sokol, Axel Bjornstrom and Alexandru Tudorie. The hosts equalised through Artur Galoyan with quarter of an hour to go, but in the last minute Nikolay Tarasov was sent off for them. Arsenal prevailed 4-3 in the shootout to edge past the FNL side to top the group on five points.

Group 5: Torpedo Moscow 2-0 Rostov

A pulsating encounter between the FNL’s second-placed Torpedo Moscow and a heavily rotated Rostov saw three penalties - only one of which was converted - a red card, a last-minute goal and another RPL side defeated. The score remained goalless until the hour mark when Torpedo’s Almur Kalmykov broke the deadlock from the spot, but by then Kirill Schetinin had already missed a penalty for Rostov right after the break.

Maksim Turishev was sent off moments after the opening goal, leaving Timur Abdrashitov to double the advantage in the last minute. The fixture was a dead rubber, however, as Chayka had already won the group after beating both sides.

Group 1: PFC Kuban 3-0 Krasnodar

The Krasnodar derby saw a major shock sprung as Kuban raced into a three-goal league against their 10-man RPL opponents. It was a strong lineup filled with international experience named by Viktor Goncharenko, but within eight minutes Maksim Lauk had put them 1-0 down. 

Vasily Aleynikov doubled their advantage with an outstanding strike from centre of the field midway through the opening period, and the disaster continued for Krasnodar as Remy Cabella was sent off five minutes after half time. Lauk added a little over 10 minutes later to really stamp home their authority on proceedings.

With all three sides ending on three points, it was the margin of Kuban’s victory that put them top of the group to advance to the knockouts.

Group 8: Baltika Kaliningrad 0-0 (4-5 pens) Khimki

Igor Yushenko began his reign in the Khimki dugout with a tense encounter away to Baltika Kaliningrad, as his new charges held firm in 90 minutes to take the match to a penalty shootout. Due to their defeat earlier in the competition to Saransk, two points for the win on penalties was not enough, as Baltika advanced to the knockouts as group winners on four points.

Photo: Arsenal Tula; Enisey Krasnoyarsk; FC Nizhny Novgorod; Rotor Volgograd