Russia: Spartak clinch crown

Second-minute goal
Zenit rocked Spartak with a goal in the second minute when the home side failed to cut out Aleksandr Spivak's cross from the goal line and Andrei Arshavin turned neatly in the box to score. Spartak almost hit back two minutes later when Brazilian striker Robson had a header blocked on the line by Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev and hacked away by the defence.

Swift counter-attack
The Moscow side had to wait until the 26th minute for an equaliser, Russian international Egor Titov rounding off a swift counter-attack as he fired home from a pass by Vladimir Beschastnykh. Three minutes later Spartak were ahead. Vasili Baranov collected the ball from a half-cleared corner and, with the defence and keeper expecting a cross, struck a fierce drive that sneaked inside the left-hand upright.

Wrapped up the game
Dmitry Parfenov virtually wrapped up the game in the 56th minute when he converted a penalty awarded after Sarkis Ovsepian was adjudged to have handled in the area. The goal took the sting out of the game and Spartak relaxed as they cruised home to their ninth championship success.

Return to the Champions League
The victory means Spartak will return to the Champions League next season, where they will hope to improve on this year's performance. The Muscovites lie bottom of their group with just two points from five games, though they could yet achieve some consolation in Europe by beating Dutch side Feyenoord in the last Group H fixture on October 31 to secure a UEFA Cup berth.