Ekaterinburg in dreamland at Dinamo

UEFA Futsal Cup hosts and holders MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg stole a march on final four rivals MFK Dinamo Moskva after travelling to the Russian capital for two Super League games and winning 6-1 before drawing 1-1.

Unhappy birthday
Ekaterinburg had gained two home wins against Dinamo in September and knew more good results at the Krylatskoe Sport Palace, scene of their UEFA Futsal Cup triumph last April, would put them in a strong position to take their first domestic league title. In the event, Tuesday proved an unhappy 51st birthday for newly appointed Dinamo coach Sérgio Sapo as Dmitri Prudnikov and Pavel Chistopolov scored twice apiece for Ekaterinburg while Aleksei Mokhov and Konstantin Timoschenkov also netted before Tatu's consolation for the home team.

'We beat them heavily'
Timoschenkov, who recently made his international debut for Russia in Ekaterinburg under Viz coach Sergei Skorovich, said: "We were confident of winning but nobody expected such a big margin. The key moment was when the referee awarded three double penalties against us with the score at 2-0 late in the first half. I thank our goalkeeper Sergei Zuev – he saved us. I believe it was one of our best performances. We thrashed them."

Maevski equaliser
Sapo, by contrast, called on his side to bounce back on Wednesday, and though they fell behind to a 17th-minute Andrei Afanasiev goal, Konstantin Maevski equalised seven minutes from time. "Today we played much better compared with yesterday, when we asked for defeat," Sapo said. His team, aiming for a seventh straight Russian title, now lie third, 13 points behind Ekaterinburg but with 18 games left to Viz's 16. MFK Tyumen, who have the same number of fixtures remaining as Ekaterinburg, are nine points behind the leaders and welcome Dinamo on 27 and 28 February.

Finals draw
On Saturday week the draw will also be made for the UEFA Futsal Cup semi-finals after Viz's game against TTG-Ugra Yugorsk at the Ekaterinburg Palace of Sport, where the final four will be held from 24 to 26 April. Interviú Madrid and Kairat Almaty will also be involved in the knockout event. For an update on their most recent results, click here.