Eduard Spertsyan delivered an assist from a set piece to Diego Costa in the match against Dynamo – his 16th of the RPL season. At least something positive came from the losing effort and the nearly lost championship: he has now tied the league’s best.
These numbers are confirmed by Opta (though assist counting in the 2000s and earlier is a controversial territory, as proven by the checks on Artem Dzyuba and Dmitry Loskov).
• Loskov recorded the most assists in a single season between two championship titles. He came close to breaking it twice, in 2004 and 2006.
• Hulk in 2015/16 – the best version in Russia: he added 17 goals to his assists and became the top performer by a wide margin. After that, he moved to China for a high fee.
• Maxim Glushenkov’s impressive statistics caught Zenit’s attention. Later in St. Petersburg, the midfielder never reached ten assists in a season again.
• Spertsyan now has a second season with 10+10. Since the RPL’s formation in 2002, only two players have achieved that many goal involvements twice: Danny and Dmitry Loskov.
Spertsyan started the season at a blistering pace: nine assists in eight matches. He slowed down a bit in the spring (four assists in 11 matches), but still caught up with the record holders.
Half of Eduard’s assists come from set pieces: five from corners and three from free kicks.
In the final round, Krasnodar hosts Orenburg, who have no motivation after securing survival. This gives him a great chance to become the absolute leader! All that’s left is to cling to the last hope for the title.
Spertsyan has reached 10+10 in an RPL season for the second time. Only two players have done it before.
Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexander Vilf
