Early career Pogrebnyak started playing football at the age of six for the
Spartak Moscow football school. In 2001, he made his debut for the Spartak reserve team and one year later he was selected for the first team squad. Between 2001 and 2003, he scored eight goals in 23 appearances. In 2003, Pogrebnyak played 40 matches and scored 15 goals while on loan with
Baltika Kaliningrad. He played 16 times and scored two goals for Spartak Moscow the next season. The same season he also scored six goals for
FC Khimki in 12 appearances. In 2005, Pogrebnyak played for
Shinnik Yaroslavl and scored four goals in 23 matches. Pogrebnyak made his true breakthrough during the
2006 season with
Tom Tomsk scoring 13 goals in 26 matches and became one of the favorites amongst the local fans.
Zenit St. Petersburg Pogrebnyak was signed in the off-season by
Zenit St. Petersburg. In 2007, he scored 13 goals as Zenit won the
national league. Zenit won the
2008 Russian Super Cup 2–1 over
Lokomotiv Moscow, with Pogrebnyak scoring the winner in the 82nd minute. Along with
Luca Toni, Pogrebnyak was joint top-scorer in the
2007–08 UEFA Cup season, scoring ten goals and helping Zenit reach the final to be played at the
City of Manchester Stadium. However, Pogrebnyak was to miss the final because of suspension following a third tournament
booking in the semifinal's second leg win over
Bayern Munich. In the
final, Zenit still triumphed over runners-up
Rangers to add their first European silverware. In the
2008 UEFA Super Cup he scored one of the Zenit's two goals in the 2–1 over English champions
Manchester United. On 28 January 2009, Zenit officials declared that they were on the verge of accepting a bid from
Blackburn Rovers which would see the player move to the English side during the January transfer window, but the transfer did not take place. Pogrebnyak made his
Bundesliga debut seven days later by playing all 90 minutes in the opening day 2–0 defeat to the defending champions
Wolfsburg. He scored his first goal in his second game, on 15 August 2009, in Stuttgart's 4–2 win over
Freiburg, in which he also won a
penalty. He ended his first season in German football scoring eight goals (six in the league). He then started the
2010–11 season scoring four goals in the first four games including his first
hat-trick in Stuttgart's historic 7–0 win against
Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Fulham On 31 January 2012, Pogrebnyak moved to
Premier League side
Fulham and signed a contract until the end of the season. He then scored on his debut in the 2–1 win over
Stoke City on 11 February 2012. In the following game he scored again, this time against London rivals
Queens Park Rangers giving Fulham a 1–0 win. He then scored a perfect
hat-trick in his next game, in a 5–0 win against
Wolves on 4 March, meaning he had scored five goals in his first three games for Fulham. This made him the quickest player to reach five goals in Premier League history. On 21 April 2012, he returned from an ankle injury to score in a 2–1 win against
Wigan Athletic at
Craven Cottage. He was released by Fulham on 1 July after failing to reach terms to extend his contract. Pogrebnyak announced that whatever happens over his contract he will remain in England.
Reading On 8 July 2012, shortly after
UEFA Euro 2012, Pogrebnyak signed a four-year contract with
Reading on a free transfer. Manager
Brian McDermott confirmed that it had been a "long process" as the deal was subject to Pogrebnyak obtaining a work permit while the club also denied rumours that he would be earning £65,000 a week. He made his debut on the opening day of the
2012–13 Premier League against
Stoke City and scored his first goal in Reading's next game, a 4–2 defeat to
Chelsea. He scored a last-minute goal in Reading's home game against
West Bromwich Albion in January which saw them come from 2–0 down to win 3–2 but did not score again that season, finishing with eight goals, five in the Premier League. Following Reading's relegation, Pogrebnyak was linked with a move away from the club but did not leave. He scored his first goals in more than eight months after netting twice in a 3–1 win over
Derby County in September 2013.
Dynamo Moscow On 27 August 2015, Pogrebnyak moved back to Russia, signing a three-year contract with
Dynamo Moscow. Dynamo released him on 25 January 2018, citing disciplinary reasons, such as attending a Juventus - Inter Milan game in Italy on the same day Dynamo played a league game and participating in the annual exhibition
FC Spartak Moscow academy alumni game without Dynamo's authorization. Pogrebnyak said he will demand the compensation for the full length of his contract through the
Russian Football Union.
Tosno On 22 February 2018, he signed a contract until the end of the 2017–18 season with
FC Tosno. Pogrebnyak was crucial to the biggest achievement in the club's history, which came on 9 May 2018 with their victory in the
2017–18 Russian Cup final.
Ural Yekaterinburg On 29 August 2018, he signed a contract with
FC Ural Yekaterinburg. On 24 July 2020, Pogrebnyak was released from the club. After missing the first 10 games of the
2020–21 Russian Premier League season, he returned to Ural on 16 October 2020. On 10 June 2021, he left Ural once again as his contract expired. ==International career==