Aston Villa out of Europe - but "reserves" don't disgrace themselves
Both could have folded under the pressure, but instead the teenage duo grabbed their chances with both hands as they gave accomplished displays, suggesting they may be at the club for the long term.
As for the remainder of the line-up, at least there was strength in defence in stand-in captain Luke Young, Zat Knight, Curtis Davies and Nicky Shorey - the only regular first-teamers on view.
They certainly played their part in keeping CSKA at bay, with the Russian side playing their first home game of their campaign, and with a new boss in Brazilian legend Zico.
In fairness, CSKA barely moved out of first gear, seemingly happy Villa's 'second string' would have little to offer, and so it proved.
The chances that came in the first half all fell the way of the home side, but then not once was Brad Guzan called on to make a save.
There were two headers from Vasily Berezutskiy that threatened, one a bullet effort from a Zhirkov corner that ended narrowly over the bar, and the second from a Milos Krasic delivery that finished inches wide of the right-hand post.
There was also Alan Dzagoev curling a 25-yard right-footed free-kick fractionally wide of the same upright, whilst Vagner Love dragged a drive wide of the left-hand post following a fine run.
What proved to be Villa's only worthwhile effort of the game came in the 14th minute when the lively Albrighton's cross found fellow 19-year-old Nathan Delfouneso for a sidefoot volley comfortably taken by Igor Akinfeev.
At least O'Neill took a positive stance at the start of the second half, abandoning his ineffective 4-5-1 line-up and switching to a 4-4-2 by replacing Salifou with Marlon Harewood.
That, though, only gave CSKA the space they had lacked in the first half, underlined by two gilt-edged chances that went begging in the opening 10 minutes.
Initially, Krasic, linked with Real Madrid, skirted Davies' tackle, but with a clear sight of goal flashed a right-foot drive across the six-yard box and marginally wide of the right-hand post.
A minute later Krasic played in an onside Zhirkov, but after racing into the area and with only Guzan to beat, the American stood tall and bravely blocked with his body, much to Zico's frustration.
But the Brazilian was soon back on his feet, this time leading the celebrations after watching Zhirkov rifle home the opener on the hour.
Another Davies tackle on Krasic on the right-hand corner of the area resulted in German referee Felix Brych harshly punishing the centre-back.
That allowed Dzagoev to tee up Zhirkov for a thunderous drive from the edge of the area that flew through a crowd of players and inside Guzan's left-hand post.
Other opportunities followed, with Guzan twice denying Zhirkov again, before CSKA gained their reward with virtually the last kick of the game via Vagner Love's 10th goal of the competition and 26th in 42 European games overall.
