The 2014–15 Russian Premier League was the 23rd season of the Russian football championship since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the 13th under the current Russian Premier League name.
The season began on August 1, 2014, when Rubin Kazan opened its season at home against Spartak Moscow. The season ended on May 29, 2015. Zenit won the championship, on 17 May, 2 rounds before the season ended.
Teams
After the 2013–14 season, FC Anzhi Makhachkala and FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod were relegated to the 2014–15 Russian National Football League. Anzhi's relegation was confirmed on 11 May 2014 after losing 0–1 to FC Krasnodar, a result that came one year after the club finished third in the previous season, and thus returns to FNL after five seasons. FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod has been relegated after playing in the Russian Premier League for three seasons, during its first stint in Russia's top division. They have been replaced by two clubs which directly qualified from the 2013–14 Russian National Football League. FC Mordovia Saransk returned to the Premier League at its first attempt as FNL champions in the 2013–14 season, after being relegated from the Premier League in the season before. And 2013-14 FNL runner-up FC Arsenal Tula, which make their debut in Premier League for 2014–15 season, to play in top division of any level for the first time in its 68-year history.
On 18 and 22 May 2014, FC Tom Tomsk and FC Krylia Sovetov Samara also played their relegation playoff matches against FC Ufa and FC Torpedo Moscow respectively. The 2012-13 season FNL runner-up which has been directly promoted to Premier League season before, FC Tom Tomsk lost their relegation playoffs from FC Ufa (4th 2013-14 FNL) with 4–6 on aggregate. Ufa's qualification to the Premier League was all the more impressive considering that the club was founded at the end of 2010 and played its 2011–12 season in the second division. FC Krylia Sovetov Samara were also relegated to play in FNL in 2014–15 season, after they lose from FC Torpedo Moscow (3rd 2013-14 FNL) with 0–2 on aggregate, and the Moscow-based club will return to Premier League for the first time since the 2006 season. FC Krylia Sovetov Samara, as one of founding members of Russia's first division since breakup of the Soviet Union, will be playing outside top division for the first time since 1991.
Stadiums TeamStadiumOpenedCapacityAverage attendanceNotesAmkarZvezda, Perm 1969 17,000 8,275 Arsenal TulaArsenal, Tula 1959 20,048 12,154 Lokomotiv, Moscow 2002 28,800 2,000 Used as home ground in round 26.MSA Lokomotiv, Moscow 2009 10,000 1,300 Used as home ground in round 20.CSKAArena Khimki, Khimki 2008 18,636 8,967 Dynamo MoscowArena Khimki, Khimki 2008 18,636 7,336 KrasnodarKuban, Krasnodar 1961 31,654 11,290 KubanKuban, Krasnodar 1961 31,654 9,228 LokomotivLokomotiv, Moscow 2002 28,800 8,822 MordoviaStart, Saransk 2004 11,613 5,313 RostovOlimp-2, Rostov-on-Don 1930 15,840 10,059 RubinKazan Arena, Kazan 2013 45,105 20,066 Rubin, Kazan 1958 10,000 3,682 Used as home ground in rounds 18–27.Central Stadium, Kazan 1960 28,856 20,624 Used as home ground in round 1.Spartak MoscowOtkrytiye Arena, Moscow 2014 45,360 25,001 TerekAkhmat-Arena, Grozny 2011 30,597 16,822 Sultan Bilimkhanov Stadium, Grozny 1946 10,600 8,500 Used as home ground in rounds 18, 24.Torpedo MoscowSaturn, Ramenskoye 1999 14,685 3,544 Eduard Streltsov Stadium, Moscow 1959 13,450 3,517 Used as home ground in rounds 14, 17, 26–30.Otkrytiye Arena, Moscow 2014 45,360 20,147 Used as home ground in round 20.UfaDynamo, Ufa 1934 5,350 4,183 Start, Saransk 2004 11,613 1,964 Used as home ground in rounds 19–23, 30.Zvezda, Perm 1969 17,000 1,383 Used as home ground in rounds 5, 11, 13, 24–26.Petrovsky, Saint Petersburg 1925 20,985 16,925 Used as home ground in round 28.UralCentral Stadium, Yekaterinburg 1957 27,000 9,193 Geolog, Tyumen 1982 12,057 5,167 Used as home ground in rounds 23, 27, 28.Ural Indoor Arena, Yekaterinburg 3,000 2,640 Used as home ground in rounds 11, 20, 21.ZenitPetrovsky, Saint Petersburg 1925 20,985 16,508
Personnel and sponsorship TeamLocationHead coachCaptainKitmakerSponsorPerm Gadzhi Gadzhiyev Dmitri BelorukovJomaTula Dmitri Alenichev Aleksandr FilimonovMacronGovernment of Tula regionMoscow Leonid Slutsky Igor AkinfeevAdidasRossetiMoscow Stanislav Cherchesov Aleksandr KokorinNikeVTBKrasnodar Oleg Kononov Andreas GranqvistKappaConstell GroupKrasnodar Andrei Sosnitskiy (caretaker) Aleksandr BelenovAdidasRGMKMoscow Igor Cherevchenko Ján ĎuricaAdidasRZDSaransk Yury Semin Anton KochenkovAdidasMordovcementRostov-on-Don Kurban Berdyev Stipe PletikosaJomaEnergosbyt RostovenergoKazan Rinat Bilyaletdinov Oleg KuzminPumaTAIFMoscow Murat Yakin Artyom RebrovNikeLukoilGrozny Rashid Rakhimov Rizvan UtsiyevAdidasAkhmatMoscow Valery Petrakov Kirill KombarovLegeaUfa Igor Kolyvanov Azamat ZaseyevJomaBashinformsvyazYekaterinburg Aleksandr Tarkhanov Artyom FidlerUmbroTMK Group Renova GroupSt. Petersburg André Villas-Boas DannyNikeGazprom
Managerial changes TeamOutgoingMannerDateTableIncomingDateTableMordovia Saransk Yuriy MaksymovMutual consent18 May 2014Pre-season Yuri Semin28 May 2014Pre-seasonSpartak Moscow Dmitri GunkoContract expired1 June 2014Pre-season Murat Yakin16 June 2014Pre-seasonTorpedo Moscow Aleksandr BorodyukContract expired5 June 2014Pre-season Nikolai Savichev19 June 2014Pre-seasonAmkar Perm Konstantin ParamonovCaretaker spell over17 June 2014Pre-season Slavoljub Muslin17 June 2014Pre-seasonLokomotiv Moscow Leonid KuchukSacked17 September 20149th Igor Cherevchenko (caretaker)17 September 20149thRostov Miodrag BožovićResigned25 September 201414th Igor Gamula25 September 201414thLokomotiv Moscow Igor Cherevchenko (caretaker)Caretaking spell over4 October 20149th Miodrag Božović4 October 20149thTorpedo Moscow Nikolai SavichevResigned4 November 201415th Valery Petrakov4 November 201415thKuban Krasnodar Viktor GoncharenkoMutual consent13 November 20145th Leonid Kuchuk17 November 20145thAmkar Perm Slavoljub MuslinSacked9 December 201414th Gadzhi Gadzhiyev30 December 201414thRostov Igor GamulaMoved to the U-21 team18 December 201416th Kurban Berdyev18 December 201416thLokomotiv Moscow Miodrag BožovićResigned11 May 20157th Igor Cherevchenko11 May 2015 (caretaker)2 June 2015 (permanent)7thKuban Krasnodar Leonid KuchukMutual consent25 May 201510th Andrei Sosnitskiy (caretaker)25 May 201510th
Last updated: 2 June 2015
Tournament format and regulations
Basic The 16 teams played a round-robin tournament whereby each team plays each one of the other teams twice, once at home and once away. Thus, a total of 240 matches was played, with 30 matches played by each team.
Promotion and relegation The teams that finish 15th and 16th will be relegated to the RNFL, while the top 2 in that league will be promoted to the Premier League for the 2015–16 season.
The 13th and 14th Premier League teams will play the 4th and 3rd FNL teams respectively in two playoff games with the winners securing Premier League spots for the 2015–16 season.
League table
Relegation play-offs First leg
Second leg
Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast won 1–0 on aggregate score and remained in the 2015–16 Russian Premier League.
Rostov won 5–1 on aggregate score and remained in the 2015–16 Russian Premier League.
Results
Positions by round The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for matchday 10, but then postponed and played between days 25 and 26, it will be added to the standings for day 25.
Season events Arsenal–CSKA game On 16 March 2015, the league decided that the game between FC Arsenal Tula and PFC CSKA Moscow on 21 March 2015 can not be played at Arsenal Stadium due to unacceptable pitch condition. The backup stadium registered by Arsenal with the league for such occasions is MSA Lokomotiv in Moscow, where the game was moved, in effect making Arsenal visitors at their own home game. In protest, Arsenal manager Dmitri Alenichev decided to field the reserves squad for this game. Most of the players from the reserves teams are registered to play in league games, therefore the league could not reverse such a decision. 9 of the 11 Arsenal starters in the game (except for Sergei Kotov and Leonid Boyev) made their Premier League debut in the game. Kotov and Boyev had played in the Premier League for 185 combined minutes before this game. It was also a first game since 21 July 2012 in which one of the teams (in this case, Arsenal) did not play a single foreign player. CSKA won the game 4–1.
Season statistics
Scoring
First goal of the season: Artem Dzyuba for Spartak Moscow against Rubin Kazan (1 August 2014)
Top goalscorers RankPlayerTeamGoalsMinutes1 HulkZenit15 (3)22832 Salomón RondónZenit131516 Roman EremenkoCSKA132213 Quincy PromesSpartak1323795 Bibras NatchoCSKA12 (7)21746 Igor PortnyaginRubin1120187 Ahmed MusaCSKA1024318 Kevin KurányiDynamo10 (3)15789 Aleksei IonovDynamo9205410 Mauricio PereyraKrasnodar9 (1)2013 Last updated: 30 May 2015
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Aleksandr KokorinDynamoRostov7–3 Bibras NatchoCSKARostov6–0 Salomón RondónZenitRostov5–0 Salomón RondónZenitUral3–0
Round One Scoring Record In the first round of matches, the 16 clubs (10 of which scored) combined for 34 goals to open the Russian Premier League, a new record that was elapsed even prior to Terek Grozny's home match against Amkar Perm on August 4. Ten of those goals came in Dinamo Moskva's 7–3 victory over FC Rostov.
Zenit Saint Petersburg winning record Zenit started the competition with 8 victories in a row, beating the previous record set by FC Rubin Kazan in 2008 with 7.
Awards Top 33 On 24 June 2015, Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players:
Goalkeepers Igor Akinfeev (CSKA) Yuri Lodygin (Zenit) Sergey Ryzhikov (Rubin)
Right backs Mário Fernandes (CSKA) Igor Smolnikov (Zenit) Vitali Kaleshin (Krasnodar)
Right-centre backs Ezequiel Garay (Zenit) Vasili Berezutski (CSKA) Vedran Ćorluka (Lokomotiv)
Left-centre backs Nicolas Lombaerts (Zenit) Andreas Granqvist (Krasnodar) Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA)
Left backs Domenico Criscito (Zenit) Dmitri Kombarov (Spartak) Elmir Nabiullin (Rubin)
Defensive midfielders Bibras Natcho (CSKA) Javi García (Zenit) Odil Ahmedov (Krasnodar)
Right wingers Oleg Shatov (Zenit) Quincy Promes (Spartak) Zoran Tošić (CSKA)
Central midfielders Roman Eremenko (CSKA) Mathieu Valbuena (Dynamo) Roman Shirokov (Krasnodar)
Left wingers Danny (Zenit) Pavel Mamayev (Krasnodar) Alan Dzagoev (CSKA)
Right forwards Hulk (Zenit) Igor Portnyagin (Rubin) Ahmed Musa (CSKA)
Left forwards Ari (Krasnodar) Salomón Rondón (Zenit) Fyodor Smolov (Ural)
Attendances
Rank Club Average Highest 1 Spartak 25,001 40,455 2 Terek 15,626 22,730 3 Zenit 14,307 18,261 4 Rubin 13,550 36,855 5 Krasnodar 11,290 23,700 6 Arsenal Tula 10,907 19,500 7 Rostov 10,439 15,710 8 Kuban 9,894 22,172 9 PFC CSKA 9,460 18,000 10 Lokomotiv Moscow 8,822 14,870 11 Amkar 8,265 12,800 12 Ural 7,744 19,500 13 Dynamo Moscow 7,336 15,351 14 Mordovia 5,326 11,613 15 Torpedo Moscow 3,754 20,147 16 Ufa 3,173 16,925 Source:
References
External links
2014–15 Russian Premier League at Soccerway