2011–12 FC Zenit Saint Petersburg season

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
← 2010 2012–13 →

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.

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 Russia GK March 4, 1979 1.85 76 Youth System
22 Dmitri Borodin Russia GK October 8, 1977 1.88 82 Youth System
30 Yuri Zhevnov Belarus GK April 17, 1981 1.80 85 FC Moscow
Defenders
2 Aleksandr Anyukov (C) Russia RB September 28, 1982 1.78 67 Krylia Sovetov
3 Bruno Alves Portugal CB November 27, 1981 1.89 83 Portugal Porto
4 Domenico Criscito Italy LB December 30, 1986 1.83 75 Italy Genoa
6 Nicolas Lombaerts Belgium CB / LB March 20, 1985 1.88 83 Belgium Gent
14 Tomáš Hubočan Slovakia LB / RB / CB September 17, 1985 1.83 74 Slovakia Žilina
24 Aleksandar Luković Serbia LB / CB October 23, 1982 1.85 83 Italy Udinese
28 Michael Lumb Denmark LB January 9, 1988 1.77 70 Denmark AGF Aarhus
50 Igor Cheminava Russia CB March 23, 1991 1.86 76 Youth System
Midfielders
10 Danny Portugal AM August 7, 1983 1.78 70 Dynamo Moscow
15 Roman Shirokov Russia CM / AM / DM July 6, 1981 1.87 83 Khimki
17 Alessandro Rosina Italy AM January 31, 1984 1.68 65 Italy Torino
18 Konstantin Zyryanov Russia LM / CM October 5, 1977 1.76 72 Torpedo Moscow
20 Viktor Fayzulin Russia CM April 22, 1986 1.76 72 Spartak Nalchik
23 Szabolcs Huszti Hungary RM / LM April 18, 1983 1.73 73 Germany Hannover 96
25 Sergei Semak Russia DM / CM February 27, 1976 1.78 73 Rubin Kazan
27 Igor Denisov Russia CM / DM May 17, 1984 1.76 70 Youth System
34 Vladimir Bystrov Russia RM January 31, 1984 1.77 73 Youth System
57 Aleksei Ionov Russia AM / CM February 18, 1989 1.77 68 Youth System
Forwards
8 Danko Lazović Serbia ST / LW May 17, 1983 1.84 80 Netherlands PSV
9 Aleksandr Bukharov Russia CF / ST March 12, 1985 1.93 92 Rubin Kazan
11 Aleksandr Kerzhakov Russia 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 Red card
2DFRussia Aleksandr Anyukov 25222414517500190003270003026591450
3DFPortugal Bruno Alves 262340000218000190002166003127760091
5DFPortugal Fernando Meira 1100000001900000002910000
6DFBelgium Nicolas Lombaerts 2723051121900000004360103227552150
8FWSerbia Danko Lazović 26158011415215100155003340032182011460
9FWRussia Aleksandr Bukharov 13446202000000000000134462020
10MFPortugal Danny 1398724600001900000001410772430
11FWRussia Aleksandr Kerzhakov 129647411000000000000129647420
14DFSlovakia Tomáš Hubočan 975300000000000000097530030
15MFRussia Roman Shirokov 3270101000019000000043601000
18MFRussia Konstantin Zyryanov 15120910100001900000001612991020
20MFRussia Viktor Fayzulin 11433000000000000000114330011
23MFHungary Szabolcs Huszti 11351112000019000000123601110
24DFSerbia Aleksandar Luković 98100000000190000000109000040
25MFRussia Sergei Semak 6433011000018201000075150200
27MFRussia Igor Denisov 13117001100001900000001412600120
50DFRussia Igor Cheminava 218000000000000000021800010
57MFRussia Aleksei Ionov 158673030000136100000169034010
98MFRussia Sergei Petrov 2190000000000000002190000

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 Red card
16GKRussia Vyacheslav Malafeev 15131680.53347000019000000016140684710
30GKBelarus Yuri Zhevnov 13411.00010000000000001341100

Transfers

Ownership

In

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

Out

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

Loan

In

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

Out

Date Pos. Name To Fee
29 November 2010 ST United States Yevgeni Starikov Russia Tom Tomsk Undisclosed Loan[2]
17 January 2011 ST Russia Maksim Kanunnikov Russia Tom Tomsk Undisclosed Loan[4]
29 January 2011 AM Italy Alessandro Rosina Italy Cesena Undisclosed Loan[5]
31 January 2011 ST Belarus Sergei Kornilenko England 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

Table

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
Head-to-head
1 Zenit St. Petersburg 30 17 10 3 59 25+34 61 Qualification for 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 LOK 0–2 SPA
SPA 3–0 LOK
5 Lokomotiv Moscow 30 15 8 7 49 30+19 53
6 Kuban Krasnodar 30 14 7 9 38 27+11 49
7 Rubin Kazan 30 13 10 7 40 27+13 49
8 Anzhi Makhachkala 30 13 9 8 38 32+6 48
9 Krasnodar 30 10 8 12 38 43−5 38 Qualification for Relegation group
10 Rostov 30 8 8 14 31 45−14 32
11 Terek Grozny 30 8 7 15 29 45−16 31
12 Volga Nizhny Novgorod 30 8 4 18 24 40−16 28
13 Amkar Perm 30 6 9 15 20 39−19 27 AMK 1–1 KRY
KRY 1–1 AMK
14 Krylia Sovetov Samara 30 6 9 15 21 43−22 27
15 Spartak Nalchik 30 5 9 16 23 40−17 24
16 Tom Tomsk 30 4 8 18 19 58−39 20

Updated to games played on 6 November 2011.
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; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

UEFA Champions League

Group stage – Group G

Pre-season

2011 CIS Cup

Group Stage

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Belarus Shakhtyor Soligorsk 321092+77
Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg 321041+37
Estonia Flora Tallinn 310237−43
Turkmenistan Balkan 300317−60

Knockout phase

Russian Cup

Russian Super Cup

References

  1. 1 2 "Sosnin and Khokhlov are going to FC Krylya Sovetov".
  2. 1 2 ""Томь" выкупила трансфер Евгения Старикова".
  3. 1 2 "Ivica Križanac is leaving Zenit".
  4. 1 2 "Пополнение в "Томи"".
  5. 1 2 ""Чезена" арендовала у "Зенита" Розину". championat.ru. 2011-01-29.
  6. 1 2 "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. 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.
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