2011–12 FC Zenit Saint Petersburg season

The 2011–12 FC Zenit Saint Petersburg season is the 16th straight season that the club will play in the Russian Premier League, the highest tier of football in Russia. The club are the defending champions of both the Russian Premier League and the Russian Cup.

Zenit Saint Petersburg

2011–12 season
Chairman	Aleksandr Dyukov
Manager	Luciano Spalletti
Stadium	Petrovsky Stadium
Russian Premier League	Champions
Russian Cup	Quarterfinals
UEFA Champions League	Last 16
Top goalscorer	League: Aleksandr Kerzhakov (23) All: –
Highest home attendance	21,400 vs Spartak Moscow, RPL 30 May 2012
Lowest home attendance	18,000 vs Anzhi Makhachkala, RPL 20 March 2012
Home colours Away colours

Internationally, the club will participate in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, entering the competition in the group stage as a result of qualifying for the competition as the first place team from Russia.

Squad

As of 21 October 2011. FC Zenit Saint Petersburg 2011–12

No.	Name	Nationality	Position (s)	Date of Birth (Age)	Height (m)	Weight (kg)	Signed From
Goalkeepers
16	Vyacheslav Malafeev		GK	March 4, 1979	1.85	76	Youth System
22	Dmitri Borodin		GK	October 8, 1977	1.88	82	Youth System
30	Yuri Zhevnov		GK	April 17, 1981	1.80	85	FC Moscow
Defenders
2	Aleksandr Anyukov (C)		RB	September 28, 1982	1.78	67	Krylia Sovetov
3	Bruno Alves		CB	November 27, 1981	1.89	83	Porto
4	Domenico Criscito		LB	December 30, 1986	1.83	75	Genoa
6	Nicolas Lombaerts		CB / LB	March 20, 1985	1.88	83	Gent
14	Tomáš Hubočan		LB / RB / CB	September 17, 1985	1.83	74	Žilina
24	Aleksandar Luković		LB / CB	October 23, 1982	1.85	83	Udinese
28	Michael Lumb		LB	January 9, 1988	1.77	70	AGF Aarhus
50	Igor Cheminava		CB	March 23, 1991	1.86	76	Youth System
Midfielders
10	Danny		AM	August 7, 1983	1.78	70	Dynamo Moscow
15	Roman Shirokov		CM / AM / DM	July 6, 1981	1.87	83	Khimki
17	Alessandro Rosina		AM	January 31, 1984	1.68	65	Torino
18	Konstantin Zyryanov		LM / CM	October 5, 1977	1.76	72	Torpedo Moscow
20	Viktor Fayzulin		CM	April 22, 1986	1.76	72	Spartak Nalchik
23	Szabolcs Huszti		RM / LM	April 18, 1983	1.73	73	Hannover 96
25	Sergei Semak		DM / CM	February 27, 1976	1.78	73	Rubin Kazan
27	Igor Denisov		CM / DM	May 17, 1984	1.76	70	Youth System
34	Vladimir Bystrov		RM	January 31, 1984	1.77	73	Youth System
57	Aleksei Ionov		AM / CM	February 18, 1989	1.77	68	Youth System
Forwards
8	Danko Lazović		ST / LW	May 17, 1983	1.84	80	PSV
9	Aleksandr Bukharov		CF / ST	March 12, 1985	1.93	92	Rubin Kazan
11	Aleksandr Kerzhakov		ST	November 27, 1982	1.76	76	Dynamo Moscow

Season Events

Pre-season

Following the club's double in manager Luciano Spalletti's first season, Zenit made several moves in the winter. First, the loan deal of former Zenit youth player Anton Sosnin to Krylia Sovetov Samara was made permanent, and Yevgeni Starikov's loan to Tom Tomsk was renewed.[1][2] Second, after a very successful 14-goal season with Tom Tomsk and Rubin Kazan, striker Sergei Kornilenko made his return to the club. On 14 January, Croatian defender Ivica Križanac, who had been with the club for the past six seasons and appeared in 100 Russian Premier League matches, was released by the club prior to his contract expiring in the summer of 2011.[3]

On 15 January, the club departed for Dubai with 22 players for the first pre-season training session. However, 19-year-old striker Maksim Kanunnikov, who was a popular first-team substitute early in 2010 prior to the arrival of Aleksandr Bukharov, did not make the trip and was loaned to Tom Tomsk on 17 January until July 2012.[4] The club also hosted the annual Commonwealth of Independent States Cup and were represented by youth team players. After qualifying for the knock-out round, Zenit defeated HJK Helsinki 2–1 in the quarterfinal thanks to a double by 19-year-old Stanislav Matyash before being eliminated by eventual champions Inter Baku in the semifinal.

On 29 January, Italian Alessandro Rosina was loaned to Serie A side Cesena until July 2011.[5] On the final day of the English transfer window, striker Sergei Kornilenko was once again sent on loan, this time to Blackpool for the remainder of the 2010–11 Premier League season.[6]

Match World Cup

In Dubai, the club participated in the 2011 Match World Cup, a friendly tournament including league winners from Europe and Asia. Zenit were drawn alongside defending Gambrunus liga champions Sparta Prague and defending Hazfi Cup winners, Persepolis of Iran. In the opening match against Sparta Prague, Zenit was fueled by a first-minute strike by Aleksandr Kerzhakov as the blue-whites cruised to a 3–0 victory.[7]

Two days later, Kerzhakov had Zenit off and running against Persepolis with a seventh-minute goal, and 34-year-old Sergei Semak added the finishing touches in the second half with an open-net goal.[8] With six points earned from two group stage matches, Zenit earned a date with Asia's Club of the 20th Century, Al-Hilal in the championship.

After a first half stalemate at the Al-Maktoum Stadium, Szabolcs Huszti finally broke the match open with a 63rd-minute strike. But Al-Hilal would not go quietly. Zenit substitute Danko Lazović was sent off in extra time and Romanian Mirel Rădoi scored in the 93rd minute for Al-Hilal to send the match to penalties. From the spot kicks, the Arabian side were perfect from all four shooters, while both Roman Shirokov and Fernando Meira were off the mark for Zenit, eventually falling 4–1 on penalties.[9]

March

Only days before the start of the new season, Zenit signed 19-year-old Chilean left-back Nicolás Peñailillo on a loan deal from Everton de Viña del Mar.[10]

Zenit opened their 2011–12 Russian Premier League campaign on March 13 against Terek Grozny, where Serbian Danko Lazović delivered the only goal of the match in a 1–0 Zenit victory. It took only 14 minutes for Danny to pick out Lazović with a cross and goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev made several excellent saves to deny new Terek manager Ruud Gullit his first points in Russia. After falling to Twente in the Europa League, the club was hit with tragedy on a personal level when they learned of the death of Malafeev's wife Marina, who was killed in a car crash on 17 March.[11] Three days later, the club played its first home match of the season against an inspired Anzhi Makhachkala side led by former Brazilian international and Real Madrid left-back Roberto Carlos. Zenit midfielder Roman Shirokov opened the scoring just four minutes in and then just seconds before half-time, Lazović scored his second of the season to put the sine-byelo-goluboy up 2–0, a scoreline that would hold up for Luciano Spalletti's second victory of the year.

Roberto Carlos incident

Following the match on 20 March, Brazilian media reported that Anzhi captain Roberto Carlos was racially abused by a Zenit fan as the two teams took the field. A picture surfaced that revealed the fan offering a banana to the 37-year-old as he entered the pitch, however Russian journalist Boris Bogdanov argued against the allegations of racism, citing that the picture was taken at an "unfavorable angle" and it could not be known for sure if his intention was to offend. Even though there had been incidents of banana-throwing in Saint Petersburg before, there were none during the Anzhi match or any other sort of incident.[12] Roberto Carlos, who initially stated, "In my 37 years I have seen everything, I'm not going to be upset after seeing a banana", and that it didn't make him feel uncomfortable, later demanded action from the Russian Football Union (RFU).[13]

On 7 April, the RFU fined Zenit €7,400 and the club claimed it had banned the offending fan for life.[14]

April

After a perfect start to the new season, the club travelled to Nalchik to face a Spartak Nalchuk side that had exceeded all expectations by finishing 6th in 2010 and once more, Sergei Tashuev's squad proved to be worthy competition. Despite an early strike from Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Spartak leveled the score on 60 minutes. Danko Lazović then scored his third goal in three matches in the 80th minute, which appeared to be the winner before 25-year-old Roman Kontsedalov brought the home side back on even terms again. For the sixth time in seven league matches, Spartak had scored multiple goals against Zenit and Spalletti's side left with a 2–2 draw.

On 10 April, Zenit hoste CSKA Moscow in a highly anticipated duel at the Petrovsky Stadium. The match ended 1–1, however the official result awarded a 3–0 victory to CSKA. According to the league regulations, every team has to put at least one player with a Russian citizenship born in 1990 or later on their game roster in every game (even if the player in question stays on the bench). If there is no such player or players, the team guilty is punished by the victory being awarded to their opponent and a fine. In the game Zenit did not have such a player in their lineup – the youngest player was born in 1989. After the game, RFU president Sergei Fursenko said that Zenit would likely be awarded a defeat for breaking the regulations.[15] Zenit manager Luciano Spalletti said after the game that they did this intentionally, as they were told it is punishable by a fine only, and the team was ready to pay the fine. They have done the same thing in the 2010 season and fine was the only punishment.[16] However, the regulations were updated in December 2010, and the current exact language of Article 109 of the Disciplinary Regulations of the RFU states it is punishable by "a defeat awarded and a fine", not "a defeat awarded or a fine".[17] Zenit was awarded a defeat by the RFU on 13 April.[18] Zenit removed Vladislav Radimov, who as team director was responsible for filing the game roster with the league, from his position to the reserve team's assistant coach position, with a reduction in salary. Zenit's lawyer was punished by the club by having his bonus cancelled.

Following the RFU decision, the Premier League further decided that the goals scored by Mark González and Konstantin Zyryanov would not count for their scoring totals, but the yellow cards received in the game would count for disciplinary purposes.[19]

Following the events of 10 April, Zenit closed out the month strong with resounding victories over Amkar Perm (3–1) and Krylia Sovetov (3–0). After a double against Krylia, Danko Lazović had run his scoring total to five goals in six matches.

May

Zenit hit a brick wall on their first trip to Krasnodar, failing to score against the newly promoted Bulls. The club could not pick up full points in either of their next two matches either, drawing with Rubin Kazan and Lokomotiv Moscow. An early low point then came on 21 May as the club traveled to Tomsk. Tom Tomsk took an early lead off former Zenit youth star Yevgeni Starikov's 37th-minute goal. Another youngster, Aleksei Ionov, leveled the score for Zenit just four minutes later, but it was ultimately 23-year-old Pavel Golyshev who had the last laugh as he secured a 2–1 victory for Tomsk. The tally was Golyshev's sixth of the season.

To finish off the month before a week of international break, Zenit would have to face arch-rival Spartak Moscow. After a heated first half-hour of play, it was Lazović to the rescue once more, putting Zenit ahead in the 37th minute with a clever penalty. The goal seemed to open the game up considerably and Aleksandr Kerzhakov netted a double in the second half, with the first of the two coming off an artful one-time shot.

June

After the club's most resounding victory of the season on 14 June, a 4–0 win over Rostov, Portuguese midfielder Danny signed a contract extension to remain with Zenit until 2015.[20]

Several days later, following the club's 2–0 victory over Volga Nizhny Novgorod, star striker Danko Lazović was tasered by police for giving his jersey to a fan in the crowd. "I just went to give my jersey to the fans after the match, when a police officer appeared behind me and tasered me in the back with his electric shocker. I don't know why that happened. Maybe he thought that I was one of the fans", explained Lazović on Zenit's official website, while the club itself vented its anger against the actions of the police.[21]

Just after entering the Russian Premier League's one-month summer break, the club signed Italian left-back Domenico Criscito from Genoa for a sum of €11 million.[22]

Statistics

Field

As of 26 June 2011

No.	Pos.	Name	League					Cup				Super Cup				Europe				Total				Discipline
			App	Min		A	PTS	App	Min		A	App	Min		A	App	Min		A	App	Min		A
2	DF	Aleksandr Anyukov	25	2224	1	4	5	1	75	0	0	1	90	0	0	3	270	0	0	30	2659	1	4	5	0
3	DF	Bruno Alves	26	2340	0	0	0	2	180	0	0	1	90	0	0	2	166	0	0	31	2776	0	0	9	1
5	DF	Fernando Meira	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	90	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	91	0	0	0	0
6	DF	Nicolas Lombaerts	27	2305	1	1	2	1	90	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	360	1	0	32	2755	2	1	5	0
8	FW	Danko Lazović	26	1580	11	4	15	2	151	0	0	1	55	0	0	3	34	0	0	32	1820	11	4	6	0
9	FW	Aleksandr Bukharov	13	446	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	446	2	0	2	0
10	MF	Danny	13	987	2	4	6	0	0	0	0	1	90	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	1077	2	4	3	0
11	FW	Aleksandr Kerzhakov	12	964	7	4	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	964	7	4	2	0
14	DF	Tomáš Hubočan	9	753	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	753	0	0	3	0
15	MF	Roman Shirokov	3	270	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	90	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	360	1	0	0	0
18	MF	Konstantin Zyryanov	15	1209	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	90	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	1299	1	0	2	0
20	MF	Viktor Fayzulin	11	433	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	433	0	0	1	1
23	MF	Szabolcs Huszti	11	351	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	360	1	1	1	0
24	DF	Aleksandar Luković	9	810	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	90	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	900	0	0	4	0
25	MF	Sergei Semak	6	433	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	82	0	1	0	0	0	0	7	515	0	2	0	0
27	MF	Igor Denisov	13	1170	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	90	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	1260	0	1	2	0
50	DF	Igor Cheminava	2	180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	180	0	0	1	0
57	MF	Aleksei Ionov	15	867	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	36	1	0	0	0	0	0	16	903	4	0	1	0
98	MF	Sergei Petrov	2	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	19	0	0	0	0

Goalkeeping

As of 26 June 2011

No.	Pos.	Name	League					Cup				Super Cup				Europe				Total				Discipline
			App	Min	GA	AVG	SV	App	Min	GA	SV	App	Min	GA	SV	App	Min	GA	SV	App	Min	GA	SV
16	GK	Vyacheslav Malafeev	15	1316	8	0.533	47	0	0	0	0	1	90	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	1406	8	47	1	0
30	GK	Yuri Zhevnov	1	34	1	1.000	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	34	1	1	0	0

Transfers

Ownership

In Date Pos. Name From Fee 1 January 2011 ST Sergei Kornilenko Rubin Kazan End of Loan 27 June 2011 LB Domenico Criscito Genoa €11,000,000

Out Date Pos. Name To Fee 10 December 2010 CM Anton Sosnin Krylia Sovetov Samara Undisclosed[1] 1 January 2011 LB Aslan Dudiyev Akademiya Tolyatti End of Loan 14 January 2011 CB Ivica Križanac Split Released[3]

Loan

In Date Pos. Name From Fee 9 March 2011 LB Nicolás Peñailillo Everton Undisclosed Loan

Out Date Pos. Name To Fee 29 November 2010 ST Yevgeni Starikov Tom Tomsk Undisclosed Loan[2] 17 January 2011 ST Maksim Kanunnikov Tom Tomsk Undisclosed Loan[4] 29 January 2011 AM Alessandro Rosina Cesena Undisclosed Loan[5] 31 January 2011 ST Sergei Kornilenko Blackpool Undisclosed Loan[6]

For recent transfers, see List of Russian football transfers winter 2010–11 and List of Russian football transfers summer 2011

Matches

Russian Premier League

13 March 2011 1	Terek Grozny	0–1	Zenit	Grozny, Chechnya
18:30 MST	Rodrigo Tiuí  90'	Report	Lazović  14',  74' Huszti  82' Zyryanov  84'	Stadium: Sultan Bilimkhanov Stadium Attendance: 9,700 Referee: Aleksey Nikolaev

20 March 2011 2	Zenit	2–0	Anzhi Makhachkala	Saint Petersburg
16:30 MST	Shirokov  6' Ionov  37' Lazović  45'	Report		Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Aleksey Eskov

3 April 2011 3	Spartak Nalchik	2–2	Zenit	Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria
11:00 MST	Jovanović  41'  67' Zahirović  60' Kontsedalov  88'	Report	Kerzhakov  7',  34' Luković  26' Lazović  56',  80' Alves  62' Danny  74' Lombaerts  78'	Stadium: Spartak Stadium Attendance: 5,800 Referee: Maksim Layushkin

10 April 2011 4	Zenit	0 – 3 Awarded	CSKA Moscow	Saint Petersburg
15:30		Report		Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 21,400 Referee: Igor Egorov
Note: The match originally ended 1–1 but later the FA awarded a 3–0 win to CSKA due to Zenit not including a player born after 1 January 1990 in the squad for the game.

17 April 2011 5	Amkar Perm	1–3	Zenit	Perm, Perm Krai
12:15 MST	Sirakov  4' Novaković  19' Cherenchikov  36' Mikhalyov  90'	Report	Ionov  20' Danny  24' Luković  38' Bukharov  80'	Stadium: Zvezda Stadium Attendance: 12,700 Referee: Alexey Nikolaev

24 April 2011 6	Zenit	3–0	Krylia Sovetov	Saint Petersburg
16:45 MST	Kerzhakov  11' Hubočan  25' Zyryanov  52' Lazović  81', 86'	Report	Priyomov  37'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 19,650 Referee: Sergey Karasev

1 May 2011 7	Krasnodar	0–0	Zenit	Krasnodar, Krasnodar Krai
16:30 MST	Gogniyev  12' Tubić  34' Martynovich  45'	Report	Anyukov  70' Danny  89' Lazović  90'	Stadium: Kuban Stadium Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Aleksey Eskov

8 May 2011 8	Zenit	1–1	Lokomotiv Moscow	Saint Petersburg
20:30 MST	Lombaerts  21' Lazović  51',  65' (pen.)	Report	Guilherme  35' Yanbaev  43' Ďurica  47' Maicon  51',  68' Ivanov  51' Ibričić  57'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 21,400 Referee: Igor Egorov

14 May 2011 9	Zenit	2–2	Rubin Kazan	Saint Petersburg
16:00 MST	Danny  9' Anyukov  11' Bukharov  51' Kerzhakov  71'	Report	Karadeniz  19' Medvedev  31'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 19,500 Referee: Yuri Baskakov

21 May 2011 10	Tom Tomsk	2–1	Zenit	Tomsk, Tomsk Oblast
11:45 MST	Starikov  37' Golyshev  52'	Report	Lazović  25' Ionov  41' Anyukov  69' Alves  75'	Stadium: Trud Stadium Attendance: 11,000 Referee: Almir Kayumov

30 May 2011 11	Zenit	3–0	Spartak Moscow	Saint Petersburg
16:00 MST	Kerzhakov  11',  67', 88' Hubočan  26' Lazović  37' (pen.) Fayzulin  81' Alves  84'	Report	Kudryashov  36' Suchý  41'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 21,400 Referee: Igor Egorov

10 June 2011 12	Dynamo Moscow	1–1	Zenit	Moscow
20:00 MST	Semshov  15' Kokorin  40' Wilkshire  56' Voronin  68' Sapeta  76' Samedov  81',  90'	Report	Luković  14' Hubočan  59' Lombaerts  70' Fayzulin  73' Lazović  82' Malafeev  90'	Stadium: Arena Khimki Attendance: 13,734 Referee: Igor Egorov

14 June 2011 13	Zenit	4–0	Rostov	Saint Petersburg
18:45 MST	Ionov  1' Lazović  40' Huszti  72' Bukharov  90'	Report	Khokhlov  20' Adamov  65' Khagush  79'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 15,081 Referee: Almir Kayumov

18 June 2011 14	Volga	0–2	Zenit	Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
18:45 MST	Bendz  13' Gogua  72' Getigezhev  90'	Report	Kerzhakov  9', 19' Cheminava  82'	Stadium: Lokomotiv Stadium Attendance: 17,800 Referee: Aleksei Eskov

22 June 2011 15	Zenit	1–0	Kuban Krasnodar	Saint Petersburg
21:00 MST	Luković  25' Zyryanov  35'	Report	A. Kozlov  20'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 20,200 Referee: Mikhail Vilkov

26 June 2011 16	Zenit	0–0	Terek Grozny	Saint Petersburg
18:45 MST	Bukharov  86'	Report	Gvazava  22' António Ferreira  86' Dzhanaev  90'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 18,500 Referee: Vladimir Kazmenko

24 July 2011 17	Anzhi Makhachkala	0–1	Zenit	Makhachkala, Dagestan
21:00 MST	Tagirbekov  18' Revishvili  81'	Report	Kerzhakov  80'	Stadium: Dynamo Stadium Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Maksim Layushkin

31 July 2011 18	Zenit	1–0	Spartak Nalchik	Saint Petersburg
16:30 MST	Fayzulin  23'	Report	Džudović  7'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 20,700 Referee: Yuri Baskakov

6 August 2011 19	CSKA Moscow	0–2	Zenit	Moscow
18:45 MST	Ignashevich  64' Doumbia  71' Vágner Love  79' Rahimić  88'	Report	Zyryanov  16' Kerzhakov  54' Anyukov  56' Fayzulin  79'	Stadium: Arena Khimki Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Aleksei Nikolaev

14 August 2011 20	Zenit	1–1	Amkar Perm	Saint Petersburg
17:45 MST	Kerzhakov  16',  52' Shirokov  61' Bukharov  90' Criscito  90'	Report	Kolomeytsev  23' Volkov  34' Popov  45' Mijailović  70' Narubin  90' Cherenchikov  90'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 21,000 Referee: Vyacheslav Kharlamov

20 August 2011 21	Krylia Sovetov	2–5	Zenit	Samara, Samara Oblast
18:15 MST	Yakovlev  31', 51',  90'	Report	Danny  22' Shirokov  29', 78' (pen.) Lombaerts  32' Fayzulin  34'	Stadium: Metallurg Stadium Attendance: 19,100 Referee: Igor Egorov

28 August 2011 22	Zenit	5–0	Krasnodar	Saint Petersburg
16:45 MST	Criscito  14' Kerzhakov  24', 30', 79' (pen.) Shirokov  85' Danny  90'	Report	Anđelković  35' Kulchiy  52' Mikheyev  67' Joãozinho  78'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 21,200 Referee: Vyacheslav Popov

10 September 2011 23	Lokomotiv Moscow	4–2	Zenit	Moscow
16:10 MST	Caicedo  16',  62' Yanbaev  18' Shishkin  33' Obinna  46' Tarasov  53' Da Costa  77', 88'	Report	Lazović  8' Hubočan  14' Fayzulin  20' Bukharov  31' Lombaerts  55'	Stadium: Lokomotiv Stadium Attendance: 19,180 Referee: Aleksey Nikolaev

17 September 2011 24	Rubin Kazan	2–3	Zenit	Kazan, Tatarstan
17:00 MST	Natkho  7' (pen.) Kislyak  23' Navas  69' Noboa  82'	Report	Danny  7',  50', 68' Shirokov  12',  28' Malafeev  24' Alves  33' Zyryanov  44' Zhevnov  90'	Stadium: Central Stadium Attendance: 21,450 Referee: Sergei Karasev

24 September 2011 25	Zenit	4–0	Tom Tomsk	Saint Petersburg
16:00 MST	Fayzulin  4' Shirokov  23' Luković  34' Kerzhakov  43', 54' Anyukov  55' Bukharov  90'	Report	Skoblyakov  41' Stroyev  45'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 19,000 Referee: Aleksei Eskov

2 October 2011 26	Spartak Moscow	2–2	Zenit	Moscow
16:00 MST	Anyukov  22' (o.g.) Pareja  32'  43' Welliton  68',  80'	Report	Danny  39' Kerzhakov  47' Hubočan  68' Lombaerts  71'	Stadium: Luzhniki Stadium Attendance: 37,075 Referee: Vladimir Kazmenko

15 October 2011 27	Zenit	0–0	Dynamo Moscow	Saint Petersburg
18:15 MST	Alves  52' Luković  71'	Report	Yusupov  40' Lomić  49' Granat  79'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 21,000 Referee: Mikhail Vilkov

23 October 2011 28	Rostov	1–3	Zenit	Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast
15:00 MST	Smolnikov  15' Ahumada  19' Bracamonte  49' Cociș  62' Kalachev  72' Adamov  85'	Report	Danny  9',  87' Luković  15' (pen.),  61' Bukharov  32',  65' Shirokov  69' Alves  80' Bystrov  90'	Stadium: Olimp – 2 Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Timur Arsanbekov

28 October 2011 29	Zenit	3–0	Volga	Saint Petersburg
19:00 MST	Fayzulin  2' Bukharov  37' Lazović  69' (pen.)	Report	Arziani  39' Shulenin  51' Abayev  69' Székely  89'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 19,350 Referee: Aleksei Nikolaev

6 November 2011 30	Kuban Krasnodar	1–1	Zenit	Krasnodar, Krasnodar Krai
17:15 MST	Lolo  2' Bucur  8' Traoré  46' Traoré  66' (pen.)	Report	Denisov  28' Luković  30' Alves  49' Hubočan  65'	Stadium: Kuban Stadium Attendance: 28,650 Referee: Igor Egorov

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Zenit St. Petersburg	30	17	10	3	59	25	+34	61	Qualification to Championship group
2	CSKA Moscow	30	16	11	3	58	29	+29	59
3	Dynamo Moscow	30	16	7	7	51	30	+21	55
4	Spartak Moscow	30	15	8	7	48	33	+15	53[lower-alpha 1]
5	Lokomotiv Moscow	30	15	8	7	49	30	+19	53[lower-alpha 1]

Source: Russian Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) number of wins; 3) head-to-head points; 4) number of head-to-head wins; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) number of head-to-head goals scored; 7) number of head-to-head away goals scored; 8) goal difference; 9) number of goals scored; 10) number of away goals scored.
Notes:

1. Spartak Moscow ahead of Lokomotiv Moscow on head-to-head points; Lokomotiv Moscow–Spartak Moscow 0–2, Spartak Moscow–Lokomotiv Moscow 3–0.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Zenit St. Petersburg (C)	44	24	16	4	85	40	+45	88	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	Spartak Moscow	44	21	12	11	69	47	+22	75	Qualification to Champions League play-off round
3	CSKA Moscow	44	19	16	9	72	47	+25	73	Qualification to Europa League play-off round
4	Dynamo Moscow	44	20	12	12	66	50	+16	72	Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
5	Anzhi Makhachkala	44	19	13	12	54	42	+12	70	Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round
6	Rubin Kazan	44	17	17	10	55	41	+14	68	Qualification to Europa League group stage[lower-alpha 1]
7	Lokomotiv Moscow	44	18	12	14	59	48	+11	66
8	Kuban Krasnodar	44	15	16	13	50	45	+5	61

Source: Russian Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) number of wins; 3) head-to-head points; 4) number of head-to-head wins; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) number of head-to-head goals scored; 7) number of head-to-head away goals scored; 8) goal difference; 9) number of goals scored; 10) number of away goals scored
(C) Champion.
Notes:

1. Rubin have won the 2011–12 Russian Cup and thus have qualified for the group stage of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.

UEFA Champions League

Group stage – Group G

13 September 2011 Matchday 1	APOEL	2–1	Zenit	Nicosia, Cyprus
20:45 CET	Oliveira  40' Morais  71' Paulo Jorge  71' Manduca  73' Aílton  75' Jahić  79'	Report	Alves  29'  76' Danny  35' Zyryanov  63'	Stadium: GSP Stadium Attendance: 21,269 Referee: Eduardo Iturralde González

28 September 2011 Matchday 2	Zenit	3–1	Porto	Saint Petersburg
18:00 CET	Shirokov  20', 63' Hubočan  61' Danny  72'	Report	J. Rodríguez  10' Fucile  25'  45' Otamendi  62' Belluschi  69'	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 21,405 Referee: Howard Webb

19 October 2011 Matchday 3	Shakhtar	2–2	Zenit	Donetsk
20:45 CET	Willian  15' Luiz Adriano  46' Chyzhov  58' Srna  62'	Report	Alves  3' Shirokov  33' Fayzulin  60' Criscito  62'	Stadium: Donbass Arena Attendance: 21,405 Referee: Frank De Bleeckere

1 November 2011 Matchday 4	Zenit	1–0	Shakhtar	Saint Petersburg
18:00 CET	Lombaerts  46' Denisov  74' Lazović  91'	Report	Srna  23' Willian  52' Luiz Adriano  65'	Stadium: Petrovskiy Stadium Attendance: 21,405 Referee: Stéphane Lannoy

23 November 2011 Matchday 5	Zenit	0–0	APOEL	Saint Petersburg
18:00 CET	Criscito  45' Lombaerts  85' Hubočan  93'	Report	Alexandrou  42' Ilia  53' Paulo Jorge  92'	Stadium: Petrovskiy Stadium Attendance: 21,500 Referee: Felix Brych

06 December 2011 Matchday 6	Porto	0–0	Zenit	Porto
20:45 CET	Helton  38' Otamendi  48' Hulk  71'	Report	Anyukov  28' Fayzulin  40' Malafeev  76'	Stadium: Estádio do Dragão Attendance: 46,512 Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo

Pre-season

22 January 2011 Match World Cup	Sparta Prague	0–3	Zenit Saint Petersburg	Dubai, UAE
18:30 MST	Řepka  35' Vacek  72' Kušnír  79'	Report	Kerzhakov  1' Ionov  34' Rosina  38' Alves  74' Lazović  78' Fayzulin  80' Zyryanov  83'	Stadium: Al-Maktoum Stadium

24 January 2011 Match World Cup	Zenit Saint Petersburg	2–0	Persepolis	Dubai, UAE
18:30 MST	Kerzhakov  8' Alves  34' Denisov  72' Semak  79' Rosina  80' Gigolayev  89'	Report	Zare  44'	Stadium: Al-Maktoum Stadium

26 January 2011 Final	Zenit Saint Petersburg	1–1 (1–4 p)	Al-Hilal	Dubai, UAE
18:30 MST	Denisov  21' Huszti  62' Kerzhakov  78' Lazović  80'  90'	Report	Rădoi  20',  90' Nami  22' Al-Marshedi  68'	Stadium: Al-Maktoum Stadium
	Penalties
	Luković Shirokov Meira		Rădoi Al-Shalhoub Al-Mehyani Hawsawi

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28 January 2011	Metalist Kharkiv	1–1	Zenit Saint Petersburg	Jebel Ali, UAE
15:00 MST	Pshenychnykh  85'	Report	Lazović  43' (pen.)

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3 February 2011 Marbella Cup	Zenit Saint Petersburg	2–1	Lokomotiv Plovdiv	Marbella, Spain
18:00 MST	Huszti  13',  67' Starikov  75'	Report	Vitanov  19' Y. Bengelloun  66' Zlatinski  72'	Stadium: Estadio Municipal de Marbella

5 February 2011 Marbella Cup	Polonia Warszawa	1–0	Zenit Saint Petersburg	Marbella, Spain
16:00 MST	Smolarek  9'	Report	Kerzhakov  24' Denisov  67' Ionov  75'	Stadium: Estadio Municipal de Marbella

8 February 2011 Marbella Cup	Zenit Saint Petersburg	1–2	Sparta Prague	Marbella, Spain
18:00 MST	Fayzulin  17' Lazović  38' (pen.)	Report	Abena  43' Kušnír  48' Lačný  52'	Stadium: Estadio Municipal de Marbella

13 February 2011 Marbella Cup	Zenit Saint Petersburg	0–0	Dynamo Kyiv	Marbella, Spain
19:00 MST		Report	Yussuf  40' Eremenko  53' Silva  63'	Stadium: Estadio Municipal de Marbella

Group stage

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Shakhtyor Soligorsk	3	2	1	0	9	2	+7	7
Zenit Saint Petersburg	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7
Flora Tallinn	3	1	0	2	3	7	−4	3
Balkan	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6	0

Source:

15 January 2011	Zenit Saint Petersburg	1–0	Flora Tallinn	Saint Petersburg, Russia
	S. Petrov  25' Murikhin  60' Cheminava  62'	Report		Stadium: Petersburg SCC Attendance: 4,500

16 January 2011	Shakhtyor Soligorsk	1–1	Zenit Saint Petersburg	Saint Petersburg, Russia
19:00 MST	Kirenkin  26' Grenkov  45' Alumona  78'	Report	Tsyganov  83'	Stadium: Petersburg SCC Attendance: 5,300

18 January 2011	Zenit Saint Petersburg	2–0	Nebitçi Balkanabat	Saint Petersburg, Russia
20:00 MST	Murikhin  33' Tsyganov  84'	Report	Sarkisov  24' Meredov  68' Garakhanov  82'	Stadium: Petersburg SCC Attendance: 2,000

Knockout phase

19 January 2011 Quarter-final	Zenit Saint Petersburg	2–1	HJK Helsinki	Saint Petersburg, Russia
16:00 MST	Batov  6' Sirotov  43' Matyash  62', 65' Mogilevets  75' Zinkov  86'	Report	Ring  20' Kastrati  63' Yobe  78' Parikka  84' (pen.)	Stadium: Petersburg SCC Attendance: 500 Referee: Vitali Meshkov

21 January 2011 Semi-final	Inter Baku	5–0	Zenit Saint Petersburg	Saint Petersburg, Russia
17:00 MST	Karlsons  3', 15', 54' Zlatinov  7' Levin  27' Chertoganov  30' Amiraslanov  70'	Report	Kostin  45'	Stadium: Petersburg SCC Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Sergei Karasev

Russian Cup

01 March 2011 Round of 16	Anzhi Makhachkala	2–3	Zenit Saint Petersburg	Grozny
18:00	Agalarov  22' D. Ivanov  90'	Report	Huszti  12' (pen.) Danny  67' Lazović  83'	Stadium: Sultan Bilimkhanov Stadium Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Almir Kayumov
Note: Anzhi's home stadium in Makhachkala was ruled not fit for the game due to weather conditions.

20 April 2011 Quarter-finals	Zenit St. Petersburg	0–2	CSKA Moscow	Saint Petersburg
20:00		Report	Doumbia  41' Ignashevich  58' (pen.)	Stadium: Petrovsky Stadium Attendance: 19,000 Referee: Stanislav Sukhina

Russian Super Cup

06 March 2011	Zenit Saint Petersburg	1–0	CSKA Moscow	Krasnodar, Russia
13:00 MST	Ionov  57'	Report		Stadium: Kuban Stadium Attendance: 22,500 Referee: Aleksei Nikolayev

References

1. "Sosnin and Khokhlov are going to FC Krylya Sovetov".
2. ""Томь" выкупила трансфер Евгения Старикова".
3. "Ivica Križanac is leaving Zenit".
4. "Пополнение в "Томи"". Archived from the original on 2011-01-22.
5. ""Чезена" арендовала у "Зенита" Розину". championat.ru. 2011-01-29. Archived from the original on 2011-02-01. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
6. "Kornilenko arrives from Zenit". Blackpool F.C. 2011-01-31. Archived from the original on February 4, 2011.
7. "Dubai cup. 2-й тур. "Зенит" крупно обыграл "Спарту", "Жилина" разгромила "Шахтер"". sports.ru.
8. "Dubai cup. 3-й тур. "Зенит" обыграл "Персеполис", "Аль-Хилаль" обыграл "Жилину"". sports.ru.
9. "Dubai Cup. Финал. "Зенит" уступил "Аль-Хилалю" в серии пенальти, "Жилина" стала третьей". sports.ru. 2011-01-26.
10. ""Зенит" взял в аренду игрока молодёжной сборной Чили".
11. Все подробности трагической смерти жены Вячеслава Малафеева Марины (ФОТО И ВИДЕО С МЕСТА АВАРИИ) (in Russian). sovsport.ru. 2011-03-17. Archived from the original on 2012-01-21. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
12. "Anzhi's Roberto Carlos Racially Abused During Zenit St Petersburg Clash – Report". goal.com. 2011-03-22.
13. "Anzhi's Roberto Carlos Demands Action After Racism Row".
14. "Zenit St. Petersburg fined €7,400 for racial abuse against Roberto Carlos".
15. "Сергей Фурсенко: "Зениту" грозит поражение и штраф в 200 тысяч"". Sport Express. 10 April 2011.
16. "Лучано Спаллетти: "Мы показали хороший футбол"". FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. 10 April 2011.
17. "Дисциплинарный регламент РФС". Russian Football Union. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
18. ""Зениту" присуждено поражение". Sport Express. 13 April 2011.
19. "Информационное сообщение НП "РФПЛ"". Russian Premier League. Archived from the original on April 16, 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
20. "Danny signs contract extension with Zenit St Petersburg".
21. "Zenit St Petersburg striker Danko Lazovic tasered by police after league match". goal.com.
22. "Official: Zenit St Petersburg sign Domenico Criscito from Genoa". Retrieved 7 May 2013.