Spertsyan equals RPL record, but Krasnodar lose top spot with one round left

Krasnodar suffered a painful defeat in one of the key matches of the Russian Premier League title race. In the 29th round, Murad Musaev’s side lost 2-1 away to Moscow Dynamo and dropped to second place in the standings.

For Armenian fans, the main highlight of the match was another assist from Eduard Spertsyan. The Armenia national team captain set up Diego Costa in the 32nd minute, when the Krasnodar defender opened the scoring in the first half. It was Spertsyan’s 16th assist of the current RPL season, allowing him to equal the Russian league record for most assists in a single campaign. Dmitry Loskov, Hulk and Maksim Glushenkov had previously recorded 16 assists in one season. Eduard still has one more round to become the outright record holder.

After the break, Dynamo managed to turn the game around. Konstantin Tyukavin equalized in the 48th minute, and Ivan Sergeev scored the winner in stoppage time to make it 2-1 for the Moscow side. Spertsyan left the pitch in the 82nd minute with the score at 1-1, and Krasnodar conceded the decisive goal without their leader on the field.

This defeat could prove decisive in the title race. Krasnodar remained on 63 points, while Zenit moved up to 65 after beating Sochi and took first place ahead of the final round.

In the last round of the season, on May 17, Krasnodar will host Orenburg, a team still fighting to avoid relegation. Zenit will face Rostov on the same day. Spertsyan’s team now need not only to win, but also to hope that the Saint Petersburg club drops points.

Despite the defeat, Spertsyan continues to have one of the best seasons of his career. He remains the RPL’s leading assist provider and one of Krasnodar’s key players in the title race. The Armenian midfielder now has a chance not only to help his team in the final round, but also to set a new historic record in the Russian championship.