Key steps towards defending the title.

Spartak Moscow 0-1 Zenit St. Petersburg, Matchday 8, 1 September

It was the second key match of the season for Zenit after the draw against FC Krasnodar. The St. Petersburg club began the match among the leading pack alongside Spartak and three others but they won it efficiently thanks to a winner by Yuri Zhirkov (he hadn't scored in RPL for two years). Zenit picked up their first win in Moscow since 2012, and Sergey Semak’s first as a coach, and in doing so firmly established themselves as title contenders.

Zenit St. Petersburg 6-1 FC Rostov, Matchday 13, 19 October

During the first three months of the season Rostov were the main breakthrough side in the league, but Zenit put the brakes on their top-five opponents with a confident victory. Artem Dzyuba made a big impact in the match with a hat-trick and two assists. The stand-out performance was one of the striker’s biggest steps towards reaching double figures in goals and assists and to leading both categories.

Zenit St. Petersburg 7-1 Ural Ekaterinburg, Matchday 22, 14 March

This game was important not only because of the scoreline but because of the circumstances. Zenit had dropped four points out of six after the winter break when they had two goalless draws in a row against Lokomotiv and FC Ufa at home. The chasing pack had cut the gap from 10 points to six but the leaders came back and ridiculed discussions about their status with this huge win. Thanks to FC Krasnodar's defeat Zenit increased the lead to 9 points. What made it even more important was the fact that the game became the last before the coronavirus-enforced break. Passing those three months became more comfortable after a 7-1 win and with such a big gap.

CSKA Moscow 0-4 Zenit St. Petersburg, Matchday 23, 20 June

There were three months between matchdays, and all that time Zenit’s opponents hoped that CSKA would breath life into the title race. But the St. Petersburg side left no chance for Armymen or for other challengers. In Moscow Zenit scored twice in the first 10 minutes and in the end, came away with a big victory.

FC Krasnodar 2-4 Zenit St. Petersburg, Matchday 26, 5 July

For the second year running Zenit took the final step to the title in the south of Russia. Last year they were crowned champions after a draw in Grozny, but the team celebrated the triumph during the return flight to St. Petersburg, because their nearest rivals, Lokomotiv, played later against Arsenal Tula. This year they had a party right on the pitch at FC Krasnodar’s stadium. Zenit let the hosts equalise twice, but finally claimed the decisive victory. The title-winning goal was scored by Sardar Azmoun at the beginning of the second half.