FC Rostov have knocked Spartak Moscow out of the Russian Cup after beating them 3-2 on penalties.
After a goalless 90 minutes and extra time in Tuesday's game, Spartak skied two penalties before Rostov's Timofei Kalachev stepped up to convert the crucial spot-kick.
It was the second year in a row that Spartak had lost in the last 16, after going out to FC Volga on penalties last year.
“You can train penalties in training sessions all you want, but to do it in a competitive match is quite different,” Spartak coach Unai Emery said after the game.
“Here the players are put under a different sort of physical and psychological pressure.”
On 11 minutes, Spartak's diminutive playmaker Jano Ananidze hit the crossbar after dribbling past Cameroonian defender Benoit Angbwa.
At the end of the first half the teams exchanged missed chances, as first Rostov forward Florent Sinama Pongolle headed wide from a David Bentley cross.
Soon after, Rostov's Croatian keeper Stipe Pletikosa, formerly of Spartak, made a triple save to keep out a powerful strike by ex-Everton winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and two rebound shots from Igor Gorbatenko.
There was little action in the second half and overtime before the teams settled for penalties.
In the quarterfinals, Rostov will face the winners of the clash between Terek Grozny and Lokomotiv Moscow which are to play Wednesday.
Elsewhere, FC Kuban booked their passage to the quarterfinals with a 1-0 derby win against FC Krasnodar thanks to a goal from Brazilian forward Marcos Pizzelli.
Kuban will play Zenit St. Petersburg in the quarters after Zenit downed Mordovia Saransk 2-0 earlier Tuesday.
The first game Tuesday saw Yenisei Krasnoyarsk beat SKA-Energia Khabarovsk 1-0 in a clash between two second-tier sides.
Yenisei face either CSKA Moscow or FC Tyumen in the quarterfinal.
