Almaz and Dynamo St Petersburg met in a club friendly on 22 August 2026, with the visitors taking the honours 3-2. The result comes as a surprise given Almaz's recent run of dominant performances at home.
Almaz had looked sharp in their warm-up fixtures. They beat АКМ-Юниор 5-1 on 21 August and saw off Академия Михайлова U20 4-3 two days earlier. The hosts had won three of their last five matches, with only two defeats to show — both 2-3 losses, one to Сахалинские акулы and another to Капитан back in March.
To be fair, Dynamo St Petersburg were not in quite the same rhythm. They had dropped points against Динамо-Шинnik 2-3 on 20 August and also fell 2-3 to Локомотив on 8 August. But they had found consistency in other games, beating АКМ-Юниор 2-1 and taking two consecutive 3-2 victories over Спартак.
And here's the thing — such friendlies rarely reveal much beyond what each side wants to test. Almaz showed enough to suggest their attacking shape was working, but Dynamo St Petersburg proved they could adapt when needed. The scoreline tells one story; the context tells another.
By then, both teams had used this match to check combinations ahead of the competitive season. Almaz's wider margin in earlier friendlies suggests they were looking to build confidence, while Dynamo St Petersburg's tighter results indicate a more cautious approach. Neither side needed to prove anything today — just find their footing.