Krasnodar were involved in two 4-3 scorelines on Friday, losing against Viktoria Plzen from the Czech Republic but coming out on top against Norwegian side Mjondalen. No other Russian Premier Liga side has seen more goals for and against combined this winter so far.

Although Marcus Berg, Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov and Manuel Fernandes all scored against the five-time Czech champions they still ended up on the losing side. Viktoria went 2-0 up after 24 minutes, and were never behind in the match.

Yuriy Gazinskiy was deployed in an unusual advanced role which paid off six minutes before half time. His clever pass assisted Berg, who rounded the keeper to finish off the post from a tight angle.

Before that though Jan Kovarik and an Ales Cermak header had put Plzen in firm control. They restart their season in a matter of days and were far more physically prepared.

Berg had a chance to double his personal tally 20 minutes after half time from the penalty spot, but his penalty was saved. Thankfully for Krasnodar, Suleymanov was on hand to finish the rebound.

Viktoria’s subsequent raft of substitutions brought fresh impetus to their play. Within 10 minutes of the equaliser they had restored their two-goal lead through Ondrej Mihalik and Thomas Chory, making Manuel Fernandes’ late goal a mere consolation.

Krasnodar 3-4 Viktoria Plzen
7 February, Marbella, Spain
Goals: Berg 39, Suleymanov 67’, Fernandes 82’; Kovarik 16, Cermak 24, Mihalik 74’, Chory 76’

Krasnodar: Sinitsin, Stotskiy, Borodin, Martynovich, Ramirez, Vilhenna, Olsson, Gazinskiy, Fernandes (Apekov 83’), Suleymanov, Berg

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A far more youthful side took on Mjondalen, who only escaped relegation from Norway’s top-flight Eliteserien with a last day win in December. Both Ari and Nikita Sergeev scored twice in a commanding performance.

Ari was the only senior player in the side not to have come through the academy. The former Spartak Moscow forward led by example, opening the scoring after six minutes with a simple tap-in from Sergeev’s perfectly-judged cross.

Sergeev was at the heart of most attacks, and would later be rewarded for his invention and work rate, but should have scored soon after Ari’s opener. Outmuscling his marker he had a clear run at goal but his touch let him down.

Ilya Vorotnikov was twice fed by Ari but couldn’t convert the latter’s slid pass or chip over the defence. After half an hour the youngster combined well with Ari, who slipped a disguised pass through to Sergeev to take one touch and rifle a left-footed finish past the keeper.

The best goal of the game came 10 minutes later. Krasnodar took just 12 touches in 15 seconds from Matvey Safonov’s calm pass out to Sergeev’s cool finish.

With such little presence in their final third, Mjondalen only seemed likely to score from a gifted chance. Straight from the kickoff Fredrik Brustad was left free to side-foot home a counter attack after Aleksandr Chernikov had been pressured into conceding possession.

When Krasnodar responded seven minutes after half time, Sergeev was once again central to the attack. His scooped return pass allowed Andrey Ivashin to steady himself before drilling a cross for the lurking Ari to head his second from two yards out.

With 17 minutes to go, Aleks Matsukatov gave the ball away outside the area leaving Ilya Martynov to resort to a clumsy challenge that resulted in a penalty. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson converted to reduce arrears.

Even when Nikolay Botsko’s sloppy pass allowed Brustad to stroll across a tired defence to make it 4-3 in added time, there was no doubt who the dominant side had been.

Krasnodar haven’t announced their next opponents, but will remain in Spain for another fortnight on training camps.

 Krasnodar 4-3 Mjondalen
7 February, Marbella, Spain
Goals: Ari 6’, 52’, Sergeev 31’, 41’; Brustad 42’, 91’, Thorhallsson 73’ (p)

Krasnodar: Safonov, Botsko, Ivashin, Martynov, Stezhko, Utkin, Chernikov, Matsukatov, Ari (Sabua 75’), Vorotnikov, Sergeev (Trialist 79’)