CSKA Moscow failed to find a way past a determined Anzhi side in a goalless draw Saturday, handing leaders Zenit St. Petersburg a commanding 11-point lead in the Russian Premier League with just 18 points left to play for.
Guus Hiddink’s Anzhi recorded twice as many shots on goal as CSKA, and only a strong performance from home goalkeeper Sergey Chepchugov prevented a surprise win for the Caucasus side.
The Moscow team almost stole the win deep into stoppage time, but Oleg Shatov cleared Seydou Doumbia’s effort off the line with an overhead kick.
CSKA have now won just one game in their last nine, while the Anzhi defense recorded their fourth clean sheet in six games under Hiddink.
CSKA retain second place in the table, three points ahead of Moscow rivals Dynamo and Lokomotiv, but their titles hopes are fading with six games remaining after Zenit stole a 1-0 win at Lokomotiv earlier Saturday.
Anzhi stay seventh, three points behind third-placed Dynamo, who occupy the final Champions League berth.
Anzhi striker Samuel Eto’o departed injured on 89 minutes, as a 2012 goal drought stretched to five games.
The Cameroonian enjoyed Anzhi’s best chances, but was twice foiled by Chepchugov.
His first chance came on six minutes, with a fierce bouncing shot that Chepchugov stopped with an acrobatic one-handed save.
Ten minutes from the time, the CSKA goalkeeper pulled off an identical stop to deny an Eto’o shot from the edge of the area.
CSKA came close on 25 minutes when Tomas Necid sent Ahmed Musa clear of the Anzhi defense, only for the Nigerian to shoot wide of the post.
Anzhi piled on the pressure before half-time, as ex-Chelsea winger Yuri Zhirkov failed to score from Odil Ahmedov’s pass, before sending in a cross in first-half stoppage time that Mbark Boussoufa struck wide.
Former Blackburn defender Christopher Samba was a threat from set pieces, and forced a save from Chepchugov on 44 minutes with a powerful header from Boussoufa’s corner.
Necid almost scored on 73 minutes but hit a long-range effort wide, shortly after Chepchugov had saved a similar effort from Ahmedov.
Earlier Saturday, ten-man Amkar beat Rostov 1-0 thanks to an own goal, and Dynamo Moscow played out a 1-1 draw with Rubin Kazan.
