Al Ain maintained their slender hopes of reaching the knockout rounds of the Asian Champions League Elite yesterday after the title holders fought back to draw 1-1 with Pakhtakor, while Al Hilal downed Qatar’s Al Gharafa to move to the top of the standings.
The club from the UAE have endured a dismal campaign in defence of the title they won in May and picked up only their second point from six matches with the draw against Maksim Shatskikh’s side in Tashkent.
That keeps Leonardo Jardim’s team in 11th place in the 12-team league but, crucially, the Emiratis are only three points outside the eight qualification spots for teams from west Asia in the last 16 with two games left.
The remaining league phase matches will be played in February with the Round of 16 to be held in March. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be held on a centralised basis in Saudi Arabia in late April and early May.
Iran’s Esteghlal occupy the final qualifying berth with five points from their six games while Saudi Arabian trio Al Ahli, Al Hilal, Al Nassr plus Qatar’s Al-Sadd have already guaranteed their progress to the next round.
Otabek Jurakuziyev struck six minutes into the game at JAR Stadium to heap further pressure on the champions, the striker heading in from close range after goalkeeper Khalid Eisa had parried Diyor Holmatov’s initial shot into his path.
Jurakuziyev should have added a second late in the first half only to see Eisa save with his feet, and the hosts were to rue that miss four minutes after the interval when Soufiane Rahimi raced behind the defence to equalise.
Al Ain were forced to see out the last 35 minutes plus stoppage time with 10 men when Yahia Nader was sent off for a reckless challenge on Doniyor Abdumannopov but it was the visitors who looked more likely to score.
Rahimi and Kodjo Laba were both denied as Pakhtakor held on to move onto four points and into ninth in the standings.
Al Hilal, who confirmed their qualification for the knockout rounds after last week’s draw with Al Sadd, moved ahead of Al Ahli and into pole position on goal-difference when as Jorge Jesus’ side defeated Al Gharafa 3-0 in Riyadh.
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