We have picked out the key facts and figures from matchday 20 in the Russian Premier Liga.

One - Zenit St. Petersburg continued an unusual streak last weekend when they made it just one clean sheet in their last 15 home games in all competitions. They were held to a 2-2 draw at home to FC Rostov to stretch their lead at the top of the table to four points ahead of CSKA Moscow, while they had kicked off the spring season with a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal Tula in the Russian Cup. The last clean sheet they kept in the RPL came last September in a 6-0 thrashing of FC Ufa - who were also the opponents against whom Zenit claimed the clean sheet before that almost exactly a year ago.

Two - This matchday saw two former RPL champions return to the Russian top flight, as Quincy Promes and Salomon Rondon both made their first appearances in the league after years abroad. Promes won the title in 2017 with Spartak Moscow before leaving to join Sevilla the following year and played the whole 90 minutes in the 2-0 home defeat to Rubin Kazan, while former Rubin and Zenit striker Rondon made his RPL debut for CSKA after four years in the English Premier League and 18 months in China.

Three - Rotor Volgograd scored three goals in a game for only the second time in 48 RPL fixtures on matchday 20 as they came out on top in their relegation battle against FC Tambov. The last time they achieved the feat was over 16 years ago in a 3-2 win over Rostov. Rotor had only managed to score nine goals in the first 19 fixtures of this campaign, but after their handsome win they have given themselves a four-point cushion to the automatic relegation places.

Four - Rafal Augustinyak was the unlikely scorer of a double this weekend away to FC Krasnodar as Ural Ekaterinburg came within minutes of a famous three points to double his career goal tally in the RPL. In his 45th RPL appearance alone, he boosted his entire goals tally in the competition to four. His other goal this campaign also came in a 2-2 draw, against Spartak Moscow at home back in November.

Six - FC Khimki continue to be the most in-form side in the RPL after winning again to make it six wins from their last seven matches. The turnaround in fortunes for the Moscow Oblast side is remarkable; before Igor Cherevchenko’s arrival in late September they had managed just three points in eight matches, and sat in the relegation zone. Since then, however, they have accumulated 25 points in their subsequent 12 matches, and remain unbeaten in four months.

17 - FC Sochi have completed an entire calendar year unbeaten at home in the RPL after their thumping 4-0 win over Arsenal Tula at the weekend, a run that stretches to 17 matches. Ironically it was Arsenal who last beat them at the Fisht Olympic Stadium exactly one year ago, but could do little to prevent a dominant victory for Vladimir Fedotov’s men. On the back of such impressive home form, Sochi now sit in third, one point off the Champions League places.

188 - Dmitry Barinov stepped onto the pitch for the first time in 188 days since suffering a cruciate ligament injury against Spartak Moscow back in August last year. Although his appearance was brief - he came on with a minute remaining - it was warmly received by Lokomotiv fans as they watched their side run out 2-0 winners in their derby against CSKA.

17 years, nine months, two days - Arsen Zakharyan became the youngest goalscorer in the Russian Premier Liga this season when he notched the winner away to Akhmat Grozny on 28 February. Zakharyan has been on electric form for Dynamo-2 in the third-tier PFL Group 2, where has scored eight goals and assisted five times in 15 matches. It was the winger’s first start for Sandro Schwarz’s team, although he had already made his senior debut earlier this season when he set another season record for youngest player selected.