Sochi edged past Chelyabinsk 2:1 in the first league's regular season ninth round on 30 August, a match decided in the closing stages. The hosts climbed higher in the table while Chelyabinsk's struggles continued in the lower half of the standings.
The first half was dominated by caution rather than chance. Makarchuk and Kertanov picked up bookings in quick succession, followed by Gadzhimuradov before the break. Both sides made changes at the restart, Meleshin and Kacorri coming on for their respective teams.
Chelyabinsk took control when Gadzhimuradov converted a penalty in the seventy-fifth minute. The goal shifted the balance, and Sheydayev and Kozhemyakin were brought on as Sochi sought an equaliser. Things came to a head in stoppage time, when the match unraveled into chaos.
Fedorov levelled from the spot on the ninetieth minute, and then Sochi struck again eight minutes later to complete the turnaround. Gadzhimuradov was withdrawn immediately after his penalty, perhaps sensing the shift in momentum. The visitors were reduced to reacting rather than controlling.
Sochi's statistics told their own story. They held fifty-six percent possession and registered six shots on target against Chelyabinsk's three, yet the visitors won the corner count in reverse and earned eighteen free kicks. Many shots with one goal means chances went begging, and here the pattern was clear — Sochi were more clinical when it mattered.
The result leaves Sochi in third place with seventeen points from nine games, their form of consecutive victories intact. Chelyabinsk sit thirteenth with eight points from eight matches, a gap that widens with each defeat.