We have rounded up the most important statistics and highlights from matchday 13 in the Russian Premier Liga.

Anton Zabolotny had a direct hand in two goals for the second home match in a row as Sochi won. On 4 October, the forward scored a double against Rostov at the Fisht Olympic Stadium, and his goals were decisive as Sochi won 4-2. In the next game on his own pitch against Lokomotiv, the striker opened the scoring with a header, then assisted Nikita Burmistrov as Vladimir Fedotov's team beat the RPL runners up 2-1. These victories extended Sochi's unbeaten home run to 12 matches, and Zabolotny himself picked up two man of the match awards.

For the third season in a row, Rostov beat Spartak in the RPL at the Otkritie Arena - no team has ever had such a run at the Red-Whites’ stadium. After the opening of the facility in September 2014, Rostov didn’t win there in four consecutive matches with a draw and three defeats. The winning run began in September 2018, when Valery Karpin's team won 1-0 thanks to a goal from ex-Spartak player Alexander Zuev. In 2019, the southerners lost the Russian Cup match at the arena 2-1, but then defeated Spartak 4-1 in the RPL.

Akhmat midfielder Ismael Silva scored the fourth goal of his career against Krasnodar. They are the only opponents against whom the Brazilian has scored more than one goal. Silva scored and made an assist on his RPL debut against the Black-Greens in August 2017, coming on for the last 20 minutes, but Akhmat lost 3-2. He also scored in the next two meetings with Krasnodar, in another 3-2 defeat in December 2017 and a 1-0 win in October 2018, but then did not score in the next three matches against them, only breaking that run on 31 October.

Soltmurad Bakaev has had a direct hand in five goals this season, four of them in the last two games. On matchday 12, the Rubin midfielder made two assists, from which Djordje Despotovic and Darko Jevtic scored against Zenit. Against Arsenal, Bakaev again assisted Despotovic, and at the beginning of the second half he scored himself from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s pass. This was his second goal of the season, the first coming in the 2-1 defeat to CSKA on matchday four.

Eric Bicfalvi has scored six goals against Ufa, more often than against any opponents in his career. The Romanian first played against Ufa in a 1-0 loss in August 2016 for Tom Tomsk, but he only scored his first goal against Ufa in a 1-1 draw in October 2018, when he was already playing for Ural. In the 2018/19 season, Bicfalvi scored in both meetings with Ufa, notching up a double in a 3-2 home win in 2019, and finally scored twice in the latest 2-1 win at the Neftyanik stadium. The double in Ufa was also the 32-year-old midfielder's second in the current RPL campaign.

Seven Krasnodar academy graduates played for the first team in Grozny. Among them was a 19-year-old debutant, central defender Vyacheslav Litvinov, who was named in the starting line-up and was given a yellow card. Matvey Safonov, Daniil Utkin and Eduard Spertsyan also played from the start; for the latter, this was his second appearance in the starting line-up. Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov, Maksim Kutovoy and Leon Sabua, who had scored within minutes of making his debut against Spartak, came on as substitutes.

Anton Shunin has made his last two penalty saves in the ninth minute of added time, and both in November. On 1 November, the Dynamo goalkeeper kept out Tambov forward German Onugkha’s spot kick at the death, and a year earlier, on 23 November 2019, he saved Aleksey Ionov’s penalty for Rostov. Both of these matches were won 2-1 by the Blue-Whites. During his RPL career, the 33-year-old has seen nine penalties missed against him, with six of them kept out by the goalkeeper himself.

Rostov midfielder Pavel Mamaev played his 20th match against Spartak on the last matchday, and for the first time he scored against the Red-Whites. In June 2005 the then-16-year-old midfielder made his RPL debut against Spartak playing for Torpedo Moscow. He played four games against the Red-Whites for Torpedo, eight with CSKA Moscow and seven with Krasnodar, and during this time only made two assists (one each for CSKA and Krasnodar).

Alan Dzagoev has scored against 24 RPL teams during his career. On 1 November, the Armyman played for the first time against Rotor and immediately scored the winning goal, which was also the player's 55th in the Russian top flight. Of the current RPL sides, the 30-year-old midfielder has not yet scored only against Dynamo, Tambov and Sochi, and has scored most often in the derby with Lokomotiv with six goals.

For 39 minutes (including added time), Tambov played with nine men against Dynamo. During this time, Sergey Pervushin's team not only came back from 1-0 down, but could also have snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat right at the death. By the 60th minute, referee Sergey Karasev had sent off two Tambov players; Anton Kilin and Guram Tetrashvili. Four minutes later German Onugkha converted a penalty. He also took another spot kick in the ninth added minute, but the Blue-White captain Anton Shunin blocked his shot. Previously in the RPL, CSKA had scored with just nine men. In the March match against Rostov, the army team reduced arrears thanks to Maksim Osipenko’s own goal despite having received two red cards by the 51st minute and being 3-1 down from the 63rd. At the end Fedor Chalov didn’t score a penalty against Sergey Pesyakov as the Muscovites lost 3-2 in Rostov.

Alexander Erokhin has scored on average once every 83.5 minutes this season. Thanks to the goal against Khimki, the 31-year-old Zenit player extended his scoring streak to four matches, and with six goals is now the second top goalscorer in the league. He is ahead of the competition due to less playing time. Earlier, the midfielder scored in matches against Spartak, Sochi and Rubin. Erokhin repeated his personal record, set between September and October 2014, when he scored in four consecutive RPL games for Ural. At the end of that season, he finished with six goals.

For 392 days, CSKA had not led in the RPL standings. Before leaving for Rotor, they were second and two points behind Spartak, but thanks to the victory in Volgograd and their rivals’ defeats, the army team are now ahead of both the Red-Whites and Zenit. The last time they were top was on 29 September 2019, when they defeated Ural 3-0 in Ekaterinburg, but on 6 October Viktor Gancharenko's team lost 3-1 at home to Rostov and lost the lead to four rivals; Rostov themselves, Zenit, Krasnodar and Lokomotiv. On the next matchday, CSKA will meet Karpin's team at the VEB Arena.

Photo: Konstantin Rybin/RPL