Matchday 24 Highlights: Guilherme's landmark, Lutsenko's records, two Bicfalvi doubles

We've rounded up the highlights from RPL matchday 24, held from 26 to 28 June.

Midfielder Nikita Burmistrov scored for his fourth RPL club. The 30-year-old joined FC Sochi when they were playing in the FNL, and on 26 June his first top-flight goal for the club earned them a draw against Akhmat Grozny. Burmistrov had not scored in the RPL since May 2017, and now has a total of 14 goals in the top tier: 10 for Amkar Perm (in 2011/12 and 2012/13), two for Arsenal (2016/17), and one for Anzhi (2013/14).

Artem Dzyuba scored his third double against Krylia Sovetov Samara: this season's top scorer scored both goals from the penalty spot. The forward scored two goals in both games against Krylia in the 2016-17 season, both of which finished as 3-1 wins for Zenit. In all games against Samara side Dzyuba has scored 10 times, eight of them for Zenit. He has only scored more league goals against FC Krasnodar and Dynamo Moscow, registering 11 goals against both.

For the sixth time Alexander Belenov kept an RPL clean sheet against Spartak Moscow. This season the 33-year-old goalkeeper not only held firm this past weekend, but also in FC Ufa’s 1-0 home win in September. Belenov has kept the most clean sheets (7) against Anzhi. Belenov has the most clean sheets in the RPL this season with 12, and is one game away from repeating his personal record set in 2012/13 and 2017/18.

Dmitry Rybchinsky's first RPL start for Lokomotiv Moscow led to two unanswered goals against Rubin Kazan. First, the 21-year-old midfielder made an assist for Aleksey Miranchuk, and five minutes later the ball hit the hand of Carl Starfeldt from his shot, and the same Miranchuk converted a penalty. Incidentally, Rybchinskiy made his RPL debut against Rubin on the first matchday at the RZD Arena when he played 10 minutes.

Guilherme kept his 100th RPL clean sheet for Lokomotiv Moscow. The Brazilian-born keeper moved to the club in 2007, and made his league debut in a 0-0 draw with Tom Tomsk in July 2009. The 34-year-old goalkeeper ranks seventh in the history of Russian championships for clean sheets. The outright leader on the list is Igor Akinfeev, who kept his 211th RPL clean sheet on matchday 24.

Dynamo Moscow midfielder Vladislav Karapuzov played 58 minutes against CSKA, after which he was replaced by Konstantin Rausch. For the 20-year-old, it was his debut in the main team. Until the summer of 2019 he was in the Lokomotiv system, then went on trial in Valencia, and after that he moved to the White and Blues. Karapuzov's selection was forced. The Dynamo  youngster replaced Sebastian Szymanski and Clinton N'Jie, who had tested positive for coronavirus a week earlier.

For the second matchday in a row, FC Rostov scored a quick goal in the first minute. Roman Romanov scored against FC Sochi, and Pavel Mamaev scored this weekend against Arsenal Tula. By the 17th minute, Rostov were already 2-0 up against Arsenal. Valery Karpin's team shares the lead with Lokomotiv and Zenit in first-half goals scorer (23). On matchday 24, the Railwaymen also scored two goals against Rubin before the break.

Arsenal Tula forward Evgeny Lutsenko scored his eighth headed goal of the season, the highest such total in RPL history. The previous record was seven, held jointly by Aleksandr Bukharov, Seydou Doumbia and Artem Dzyuba. Lutsenko also improved his personal overall record for the season to 11 goals scored, the same number as Eldor Shomurodov and Aleksandr Sobolev.

For almost seven years, Ural defender Aleksey Gerasimov has been waiting for his debut in the RPL. The player was first named in an RPL matchday squad back in November 2013, when he was 20 years old. During the 2013/14 season he spent 10 games in the reserves, in May 2015 he made into the matchday squad against Terek Grozny, and then played on loan and for Ural-II in the PFL. Gerasimov, who turned 27 in April, returned to the main team in 2020. He was a reserve against CSKA Moscow and Rubin Kazan, and against Tambov finally came into the starting line-up and played 90 minutes.

For the 2nd time in his Ural Ekaterinburg career, Erik Bicfalvi scored a goal and was sent off in the same match. On 1 April 2018, the Romanian midfielder equalised in the 73rd minute against Rubin, and received a second yellow card two minutes from the end. In the last match against Tambov, Ural's top scorer beat Giorgi Shelia in each half, and at the end of normal time earned two bookings and left the pitch.

Photos: Nikita Medvedevskikh/FC Ural; Konstantin Rybin/RPL; Konstantin Tverdovsky/Dynamo Moscow