Ekaterinburg posted a warning to rivals for their title with two victories this weekend at home to fellow European entrants and reigning Russian champions MFK Dinamo Moskva – the first time that team has failed to take a point in a league double-header.

Ekaterinburg delight
Dinamo had won their first four games this season while Ekaterinburg had dropped two points, but it was the team that replaced the capital club as European champions in April that were victorious in the opening encounter. Pavel Chistopolov's early opener was cancelled out by Joan but Dmitri Prudnikov struck midway through the second half and Konstantin Agapov's goal with two minutes left meant another Joan strike was in vain.

Late goals
The next day it was a similar story as although Cirilo gave Dinamo the lead, Hamad equalised and scored again with five minutes left. Sergei Ivanov equalised but Ekaterinburg goalkeeper Sergei Zuev and Prudnikov struck in the last two minutes. Only four times in their six-year history have Dinamo even taken so little as one point in a two-game series. Joan said: "If we want to win this classic encounter in the future we will need to come up with something new."