RPL March Player of the Month vote open

Since the season resumed this spring there have been plenty of outstanding performances, leading to the following five players being nominated for March’s RPL Player of the Month. You can vote via the widget below - or on the official RPL VKontakte page - as long as you have a VKontakte account.

Sardar Azmoun

Zenit St. Petersburg (3 games, 3 goals, 1 assist)

Due to injury problems, the Iranian forward played only 22 minutes in the first game after the break against Lokomotiv Moscow and one half against FC Ufa. In those matches, Zenit not only failed to score against both opponents but also saw their lead cut to six points.

Once Azmoun finally returned to the starting lineup for the match against Ural Ekaterinburg, his and Zenit’s fortunes improved considerably. He scored the first hat-trick of his club career, helped Sebastian Driussi to score and was named Man of the Match. Azmoun now lies third in the RPL goalscoring charts on 10 goals behind teammate Artem Dzyuba and FC Rostov’s Eldor Shomurodov.

Aleksandr Kokorin

FC Sochi (4 games, 3 goals (1 penalty), 1 assist)

Kokorin returned to professional football for the first time since 2018 as if he had never been away; if anything, he looked sharper than ever. His protracted loan move from Zenit St. Petersburg to FC Sochi has given him a new lease of life as the leader of the team with three goals - including one on his debut - and one assist.

Vladimir Fedotov has played him in every minute of FC Sochi’s four games. Although the obvious statistics grab one’s attention, his overall performances have also been recognised with two Man of the Match awards.

Christian Noboa

FC Sochi (4 games, 2 goals, 2 assists)

The Ecuadorian was the conductor of FC Sochi before Vladimir Fedotov, and with the appointment of the new coach his status in the team has not changed. In a truncated March schedule he managed to double his season tally for goals and assists as well as guiding FC Sochi out of the relegation zone with three consecutive wins.

Against FC Orenburg he sprayed two fantastic long-range assists to Aleksandr Mostovoy and Aleksandr Kokorin before an opportunistic header himself. Although a significant deflection helped him, his strike against FC Krasnodar was symbolic of his heavy influence further up the pitch.

Aleksandr Belenov

FC Ufa (3 matches, 2 clean sheets)

Although FC Ufa failed to score in all three matches after the winter break, they remained typically solid in defence in no small part due to Belenov’s experience between the sticks. Even in their only defeat, against FC Krasnodar, they held out for over an hour, while Belenov saved Ari’s first penalty attempt before the retaken spot-kick was converted.

He was unbeatable away to the RPL’s highest scorers Zenit St. Petersburg, and CSKA Moscow. The match in St. Petersburg was Belenov's 100th career clean sheet, granting him membership to the Lev Yashin club. He has kept more clean sheets this season than any other goalkeeper.

Grzegorz Krychowiak

Lokomotiv Moscow (3 games, 1 goal, 1 assist)

Krychowiak continued his outstanding form with a heavily influential performance against Akhmat Grozny, with four shots on goal. With nine goals already, he is the highest-scoring midfielder in the RPL and Lokomotiv’s top scorer outright.

His standout performance though came away to FC Rostov. With the hosts in control, the Pole had a direct hand in all three goals as Yuriy Semin’s men blew away their opponents. Unsurprisingly, he was named Man of the Match for his efforts.