 After two years with Zenit Saint Petersburg, during which he scored against Spartak Moscow in the semifinal of the 1944 Soviet Cup, which Zenit ultimately won, Salnikov joined Spartak as a 21-year-old in 1946.He won the Cup with Spartak in 1946 and 1947.Salnikov scored two goals and made another in the final match of the 1949 season against Dynamo Moscow, when Spartak narrowly missed out on the Soviet Top League title in a 5–4 defeat that some consider the greatest match of the era.