2007 Russian Premier League

Russian Premier League
Season	2007
Champions	Zenit St.Petersburg
Relegated	Kuban Krasnodar ; Rostov
Champions League	Zenit St.Petersburg ; Spartak Moscow
Europa League	CSKA Moscow ; FC Moscow
Intertoto Cup	Saturn Ramenskoye
Matches played	240
Goals scored	562 (2.34 per match)
Top goalscorer	Roman Pavlyuchenko ; & Roman Adamov (20)
	← 2006 2008 →

The 2007 Russian Premier League was the 16th season of the Russian Football Championship, and the sixth under the current Russian Premier League name. The league was sponsored by insurance company Rosgosstrakh.

The season started on 10 March 2007 with the match between Luch-Energia and FC Moscow in Vladivostok, with the first goal of the season being scored by FC Moscow striker Héctor Bracamonte. It ended on 11 November 2007, when Zenit St. Petersburg claimed their first title with an away win over Saturn. Zenit became the second non-Moscow club to win the league, after Alania Vladikavkaz in 1995.

Spartak Moscow finished runners-up for the third consecutive season, while defending champions CSKA Moscow finished third.

Teams

As in the previous season, 16 teams played in the 2007 season. After the 2006 season, Torpedo Moscow and Shinnik Yaroslavl were relegated to the 2007 Russian First Division. They were replaced by Khimki and Kuban Krasnodar, the winners and runners up of the 2006 Russian First Division.

Venues

Amkar	CSKA	Dynamo	Khimki
Zvezda Stadium	Luzhniki Stadium	Central Stadium	Rodina Stadium
Capacity: 17,000	Capacity: 81,000	Capacity: 36,540	Capacity: 3,760

Krylia	CSKA Dynamo Khimki Lokomotiv Moscow Saturn Spartak Amkar Krylia Rostov Rubin Kuban Spartak Zenit class=notpageimage\| Locations of teams in 2007 Russian Premier League Moscow Luch Tom class=notpageimage\| Locations of teams in 2007 Russian Premier League, Tomsk & Vladivostok		Kuban
Metallurg Stadium			Kuban Stadium
Capacity: 27,084			Capacity: 28,800

Lokomotiv			Luch-Energia
RZD Arena			Dynamo Stadium
Capacity: 33,001			Capacity: 10,200

Moscow			Rostov
Eduard Streltsov Stadium			Olimp-2
Capacity: 13,450			Capacity: 15,840

Rubin			Saturn
Central Stadium			Saturn Stadium
Capacity: 22,500			Capacity: 14,685

Spartak Moscow	Spartak Nalchik	Tom	Zenit Saint Petersburg
Luzhniki Stadium	Spartak Stadium	Trud Stadium	Petrovsky Stadium
Capacity: 81,029	Capacity: 14,149	Capacity: 10,028	Capacity: 21,570

Personnel and kits

Team	Location	Head coach
Amkar Perm	Perm	Rashid Rakhimov
CSKA	Moscow	Valery Gazzaev
Dynamo	Moscow	Andrey Kobelev
Khimki	Khimki	Slavoljub Muslin
Krylia	Samara	Aleksandr Tarkhanov
Kuban	Krasnodar	Leonid Nazarenko (Caretaker)
Lokomotiv	Moscow	Anatoliy Byshovets
Luch-Energia	Vladivostok	Sergei Pavlov
Moscow	Moscow	Leonid Slutsky
Rostov	Rostov-on-Don	Oleg Dolmatov
Rubin	Kazan	Kurban Berdyev
Saturn	Ramenskoye	Gadzhi Gadzhiyev
Spartak	Moscow	Stanislav Cherchesov
Spartak	Nalchik	Yuri Krasnozhan
Tom	Tomsk	Valery Petrakov
Zenit	Saint Petersburg	Dick Advocaat

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment	Position in table
Lokomotiv	Oleg Dolmatov	Fired	26 December 2006	Preseason	Anatoliy Byshovets	26 December 2006	Preseason
Krylia	Gadzhi Gadzhiyev			Preseason	Sergei Oborin		Preseason
Kuban	Pavlo Yakovenko		April 2007		Leonid Nazarenko (Caretaker)	April 2007
Saturn	Vladimír Weiss		May 2007		Gadzhi Gadzhiyev	May 2007
Rostov	Sergei Balakhnin		July 2007		Pavlo Yakovenko	July 2007
Rostov	Pavlo Yakovenko		July 2007		Oleg Dolmatov	23 July 2007
Spartak	Vladimir Fedotov		June 2007		Stanislav Cherchesov	19 June 2007
Krylia	Sergei Oborin		August 2007		Aleksandr Tarkhanov	August 2007
Kuban	Leonid Nazarenko (Caretaker)		August 2007		Soferbi Yeshugov	August 2007
Khimki	Vladimir Kazachyonok		September 2007		Slavoljub Muslin	7 September 2007
Kuban	Soferbi Yeshugov		September 2007		Leonid Nazarenko (Caretaker)	September 2007

Tournament format and regulations

Based on paragraph 15.3 of the Russian Premier League regulations for the current season, if two or more teams are equal on points (without having the highest number), the positions of these teams are determined by:

higher number of wins in all matches;
higher goal difference in all matches;
results of matches between the teams in question (1. higher number of points obtained; 2. higher number of wins; 3. higher goal difference; 4. higher number of goals scored; 5. higher number of away goals scored);
higher number of goals scored in all matches;
higher number of away goals scored in all matches;
drawing of lots.

Based on paragraph 15.4 of the regulations, if two teams are equal on the highest number of points, the first position is determined by:

higher number of wins in all matches;
results of matches between the two teams (1. higher number of points obtained; 2. higher goal difference; 3. higher number of goals scored; 4. higher number of away goals scored);
drawing of lots, or an additional match between the two teams, with extra time and a penalty shoot-out if necessary.

Based on paragraph 15.5 of the regulations, if more than two teams are equal on the highest number of points, the first position and subsequent positions of these teams are determined by:

higher number of wins in all matches;
higher goal difference in all matches;
results of matches between the teams in question (1. higher number of points obtained; 2. higher goal difference; 3. higher number of goals scored; 4. higher number of away goals scored);
drawing of lots, or an additional tournament between the teams in question.¹

¹The terms of this additional tournament are determined by the Russian Football Union and the governing body of the Russian Premier League based on suggestions from the participating clubs.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Zenit St. Petersburg (C)	30	18	7	5	54	32	+22	61	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	Spartak Moscow	30	17	8	5	50	30	+20	59	Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
3	CSKA Moscow	30	14	11	5	43	24	+19	53	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round^[a]
4	FC Moscow	30	15	7	8	40	32	+8	52	Qualification to UEFA Cup second qualifying round
5	Saturn	30	11	12	7	34	28	+6	45	Qualification to Intertoto Cup second round
6	Dynamo Moscow	30	11	8	11	37	35	+2	41
7	Lokomotiv Moscow	30	11	8	11	39	42	−3	41
8	Amkar Perm	30	10	11	9	30	27	+3	41
9	Khimki	30	9	10	11	32	33	−1	37
10	Rubin Kazan	30	10	5	15	31	39	−8	35
11	Tom Tomsk	30	8	11	11	37	35	+2	35
12	Spartak Nalchik	30	8	9	13	29	38	−9	33
13	Krylia Sovetov Samara	30	8	8	14	35	46	−11	32
14	Luch-Energiya Vladivostok	30	8	8	14	26	39	−13	32
15	Kuban Krasnodar (R)	30	7	11	12	27	38	−11	32	Relegation to First Division
16	Rostov (R)	30	2	12	16	18	44	−26	18	Relegation to First Division

Source: RFPL
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; 3rd goal difference; 4th head-to-head (points, matches won, goal difference, goals scored, away goals scored); 5th goals scored; 6th away goals scored; 7th drawing of lots
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Qualified as the winner of 2007–08 Russian Cup

Results

Home \ Away	AMK	CSK	DYN	KHI	KRY	KUB	LOK	LUE	MOS	ROS	RUB	SAT	SPA	SPN	TOM	ZEN
Amkar Perm		1–1	1–1	3–1	4–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	0–1	1–1	3–3	1–1
CSKA Moscow	1–0		0–1	0–0	4–2	0–0	2–0	4–0	2–0	4–0	3–1	3–1	1–1	2–0	0–0	2–0
Dynamo Moscow	0–0	1–1		2–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–0	3–1	4–2
Khimki	1–0	1–1	1–0		4–1	1–0	1–2	3–0	1–3	1–0	0–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	1–1	2–2
Krylya Sovetov Samara	1–0	1–0	3–2	1–0		2–3	3–1	3–0	0–0	0–1	3–0	0–1	0–2	1–2	1–1	1–3
Kuban Krasnodar	1–1	0–1	0–4	1–1	3–2		0–0	1–1	4–1	1–0	0–1	2–2	0–0	2–2	2–1	1–1
Lokomotiv Moscow	0–1	1–2	2–2	1–0	5–2	2–3		1–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	0–2	4–3	3–1	0–0	1–0
Luch-Energiya Vladivostok	1–0	4–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	3–0		0–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	0–0	0–1
FC Moscow	3–1	2–1	4–1	0–2	3–1	1–0	1–2	3–1		1–0	2–1	3–2	2–0	1–0	2–0	0–3^[a]
Rostov	2–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–2	1–1	1–1		1–1	1–3	1–3	0–1	2–2	2–3
Rubin Kazan	1–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	2–2	3–0	3–0	1–1	0–0		0–1	3–1	2–1	1–3	1–4
Saturn	2–0	2–2	2–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–0	1–0		0–0	1–1	0–0	0–1
Spartak Moscow	0–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	4–0	1–2	2–1	3–1	3–0	2–1	2–0		2–2	3–2	3–1
Spartak Nalchik	0–1	1–1	4–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–3	1–2		1–0	0–3
Tom	0–1	0–1	1–0	3–1	1–2	2–0	4–2	3–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–1	2–0		0–1
Zenit St. Petersburg	0–0	2–1	3–0	4–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	3–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–1	1–3	4–3	2–1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

^ The match was played on 1 July 2007 and originally ended with Moscow's 1–2 loss to Zenit. However, on 15 August 2007, Football Union of Russia decided to hand Moscow a 0–3 technical defeat and fine the club RUB 500,000 ($20,000) for fielding an ineligible player Roman Hubník, who was loaned to the club by Czech Sigma Olomouc until the end of June only, and was therefore ineligible to play in the match.^[1]

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

As of matches played on 11 November 2007.

Rank	Player	Club	Goal
1	Roman Pavlyuchenko	Spartak	14
1	Roman Adamov	Moscow	14
3	Jô	CSKA	13
3	Vágner Love	CSKA	13
5	Pavel Pogrebnyak	Zenit	11
5	Dmitri Sychev	Lokomotiv	11
7	Andrey Arshavin	Zenit	10
	Andrei Karyaka	Saturn
	Martin Kushev	Amkar
10	Konstantin Zyryanov	Zenit	9
	Goran Maznov	Tom
	Dmitri Kirichenko	Saturn
	Davit Mujiri	Krylia
	Denis Kolodin	Dynamo

Statistics

Goals: 562 (average 2.34 per match)
- From penalties: 57 (10%)
- Saved/Missed penalties: 17 (23%)
- Goals scored home: 348 (62%)
- Goals scored away: 214 (38%)
Yellow cards: 1080 (average 4.50 per match)
- For violent conduct: 563 (52%)
- For unsporting behaviour: 425 (39%)
- For undisciplined behaviour: 8 (1%)
- Other: 84 (8%)
Red cards: 49 (average 0.20 per match)
- For second yellow card: 27 (55%)
- For violent conduct: 9 (18%)
- For unsporting behaviour: 5 (9%)
- For undisciplined behaviour: 4 (8%)
- For denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity: 4 (8%)
Attendance: 3,147,567 (average 13,114 per match; 104,919 per matchday)

Awards

On 30 November 2007 Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:^[2]

Goalkeepers

Antonín Kinský (Saturn)
Vladimir Gabulov (Kuban)
Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow)

Right backs

Branislav Ivanović (Lokomotiv Moscow)
Aleksandr Anyukov (Zenit)
Vasili Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow)

Right-centre backs

Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow)
Denis Kolodin (Dynamo Moscow)
Radoslav Kováč (Spartak Moscow)

Left-centre backs

Ján Ďurica (Saturn)
Martin Stranzl (Spartak Moscow)
Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit)

Left backs

Aleksei Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow)
Kim Dong-Jin (Zenit)
Emir Spahić (Lokomotiv Moscow)

Defensive midfielders

Anatoliy Tymoschuk (Zenit)
Dmitri Khokhlov (Dynamo Moscow)
Aleksei Igonin (Saturn)

Right wingers

Miloš Krasić (CSKA Moscow)
Vladimir Bystrov (Spartak Moscow)
Aleksei Ivanov (Luch-Energia and Saturn)

Central midfielders

Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit)
Yegor Titov (Spartak Moscow)
Igor Semshov (Dynamo Moscow)

Left wingers

Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow)
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
Dmitri Torbinsky (Spartak Moscow)

Right forwards

Vágner Love (CSKA Moscow)
Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow)
Danny (Dynamo Moscow)

Left forwards

Andrei Arshavin (Zenit)
Jô (CSKA Moscow)
Dmitri Sychev (Lokomotiv Moscow)

Medal squads

1. FC Zenit St. Petersburg
Goalkeepers: Vyacheslav Malafeev (19), Kamil Čontofalský (13). Defenders: Kim Dong-Jin (24 / 2), Martin Škrtel (23 / 1), Aleksandr Anyukov (22 / 2), Erik Hagen (15), Ivica Križanac (15), Nicolas Lombaerts (13 / 2). Midfielders: Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (29 / 4), Konstantin Zyryanov (27 / 9), Igor Denisov (25 / 3), Alejandro Domínguez (24 / 3), Radek Šírl (22 / 1), Vladislav Radimov (17 / 1), Fernando Ricksen (14), Aleksandr Gorshkov (11), Ilya Maksimov (6), Yuri Lebedev (1). Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (30 / 10), Pavel Pogrebnyak (24 / 11), Fatih Tekke (16 / 4). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets) Manager: Dick Advocaat . Transferred out during the season: none.
2. FC Spartak Moscow
Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa (29), Dmitri Khomich (1). Defenders: Roman Shishkin (26), Martin Stranzl (19 / 2), Florin Şoavă (18), Renat Sabitov (15), Géder (14 / 1), Martin Jiránek (11), Andrei Ivanov (7), Fyodor Kudryashov (7), Ignas Dedura (6 / 1). Midfielders: Yegor Titov (27 / 7), Radoslav Kováč (26 / 1), Dmitri Torbinski (24 / 3), Denis Boyarintsev (24 / 3), Maksym Kalynychenko (22 / 3), Vladimir Bystrov (18 / 3), Mozart (18 / 1), Quincy (6), Aleksei Rebko (3), Serghei Covalciuc (2), Sergei Parshivlyuk (2), Oleg Dineyev (1). Forwards: Roman Pavlyuchenko (22 / 14), Nikita Bazhenov (16 / 4), Artyom Dzyuba (16 / 1), Welliton (12 / 4), Aleksandr Prudnikov (12 / 2). Manager: Vladimir Fedotov (until June), Stanislav Cherchesov (from June). Transferred out during the season: Oleg Dineyev (on loan to FC Shinnik Yaroslavl), Quincy (on loan to Celta de Vigo).
3. PFC CSKA Moscow
Goalkeepers: Veniamin Mandrykin (20), Igor Akinfeev (10), Yevgeny Pomazan (1). Defenders: Sergei Ignashevich (26 / 3), Vasili Berezutski (26 / 1), Aleksei Berezutski (26), Deividas Šemberas (24), Anton Grigoryev (10), Chidi Odiah (4). Midfielders: Yuri Zhirkov (29 / 2), Evgeni Aldonin (27 / 2), Elvir Rahimić (27), Miloš Krasić (22 / 4), Rolan Gusev (16), Dudu (15 / 1), Ivan Taranov (13), Caner Erkin (8), Eduardo Ratinho (6 / 1), Pavel Mamayev (4), Daniel Carvalho (4), Sergei Gorelov (2). Forwards: Jô (27 / 13), Vágner Love (23 / 13), Ramón (18 / 1), Dawid Janczyk (10 / 1), Nikita Burmistrov (6), Dmitry Tikhonov (2). Manager: Valery Gazzaev. Transferred out during the season: none.