We have rounded up the key facts and figures from matchday 28 of the Russian Premier Liga. 

Two - It is unsurprising that Zenit’s goals dominate the figures this matchday after their smashing win over nearest rivals Lokomotiv. RPL top goalscorer Sardar Azmoun moved on to 19 goals for the season - already the highest individual tally since Fedor Smolov’s 20 goals for Krasnodar in 2015/16 - thanks to his second hat-trick of the season. No other player has managed that many this campaign so far. Only Salomon Rondon (4) has more hat-tricks than Azmoun (3) since 2008.

Five - After they lost 3-1 to Sochi, for the first time ever since earning promotion to the top flight, Krasnodar made it five home matches without a win. After falling behind to an early Christian Noboa penalty, Dmitry Stotsky equalised before a disastrous last 11 minutes; first Remy Cabella was sent off, before Anton Zabolotny and Noboa again struck. 

Six - Not only did Sardar Azmoun help his side to a stunning title-winning victory with a hat-trick, as well as extend his lead in the top goalscorers chart, his second - a beautiful glancing header - made him the highest scorer of headed goals with six, too. Aleksandr Sobolev drew level with his sixth header as Spartak beat Arsenal Tula 2-1 away. 

Seven - After clinching the title in such spectacular fashion, Zenit became the most successful club in the Russian Premier Liga era by claiming their seventh RPL championship. Previously, they had been level with CSKA Moscow on six. They also became the first side in the same period to win three league titles in a row.

Eight - Fedor Chalov ended his goal drought in CSKA Moscow's 1-1 draw with Ufa. It was the striker's first goal in eight games, and his first in 2021. 

11 - Rubin Kazan again proved to be a thorn in Dynamo Moscow's side. The two teams went into this matchday level on points, and both vying for Europe, but 10-man Rubin came out on top 2-0. Dynamo have now won just four of 36 RPL games against Rubin, giving them a winning ratio of just 11% - their lowest against opposition with three or more clashes.

14 - Thanks to Chalov’s goal CSKA maintained a proud record of never having lost to Ufa in 14 RPL meetings, even though they have drawn six of the last eight league meetings. The Armymen are now the side Ufa have played the most in the RPL without winning.

19 - Sochi also kept in the hunt for a top-four spot with their fine win away to southern rivals Krasnodar, inspired by their talisman and season top scorer Christian Noboa. The Ecuadorian veteran added two more to his tally to take him to 12 strikes for the campaign, and in turn move him on to 19 direct goal involvements. Only title-winners Artem Dzyuba and Sardar Azmoun (21) can beat that total.

35 - Despite the superb form before this matchday of Lokomotiv and Zenit’s emphatic scoring feats, the team with the most points in the last 15 RPL matches is in fact Khimki. The Moscow Region side managed to beat Ural Ekaterinburg 1-0 despite going down to 10 men, giving them 35 points since matchday 13 (W11, D2, L2).

69 - Aleksandr Sobolev continued his fine form since the winter break by scoring his eighth goal in eight games since February. This give him an incredible minutes per goal ratio of 69, the best figures in the RPL during this period for players with more than five goals. Sardar Azmoun has also notched eight goals since the season restart, but has “only” managed a ratio of 81 minutes per goal.

71 - After yet another six-goal performance, Zenit broke yet another record. Previously, the most goals scored by one club in the RPL era was 67 by CSKA Moscow in the 2014/15 season (when Zenit were crowned champions anyway); now Zenit have scored 71 goals - and still have two more matches to extend their record.

671 - Rotor Volgograd gave themselves a lifeline with two games to go by winning 1-0 at home to Akhmat Grozny, thanks to a goal from Kazakh forward Aleksandr Shchetkin. It was the striker’s first goal for the club, but remarkable was the entire side’s first goal in 671 mins, or eight games.

Photo: Vyacheslav Evdokimov/Zenit St. Petersburg