ACL MD2 - GROUP A: AL ITTIHAD 1-1 LOKOMOTIV

The Ghanaian World Cup star’s 14th minute effort gave Lokomotiv goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov little chance and seemed set to seal the Saudi side’s first win of the 2016 campaign, only for Abdukholikov to convert from the spot in the 80th minute.

“Our players were tired tonight because of the big match they played against Al Hilal and they missed several scoring chances,” said Al Ittihad coach Victor Piturca. “We gave our best tonight and opened the scoring but we failed to hold on to our lead.

“Lokomotiv are one of the strong teams in the group and the result is disappointing for us. We will give our best in the next matches because it is important to qualify to the knockout stage of the competition and hopefully we can improve in the next matches.”

The result was the second time the teams had shared the points in a week after Lokomotiv and Al Ittihad had played out a 1-1 draw in Tashkent on Matchday 1.

Muntari gave Al Ittihad the best start imaginable as the former AC Milan midfielder capitalised on Lokomotiv’s inability to clear Ahmed Asiri’s corner, sending a left-foot drive into the top corner at unstoppable pace.

The goal was a rare moment of quality in a disappointing first half, but the second period saw the home side pick up the pace, with Saudi Arabia under 23 international Abdulfattah Asiri to the fore.

The 21-year-old caused panic in the Lokomotiv defence four minutes after the restart when he surged through on goal only to send his shot wide of the target.

And three minutes later his attempt from just outside the area was only marginally over the bar.

Lokomotiv had rarely threatened throughout the opening three-quarters of the game, but in the 67th minute Al Ittihad goalkeeper Asaf Al Qarni was called into action to deny Nemanja Janicic, pushing the defender’s header onto the crossbar.

Abdulfattah Asiri continued to carry the greatest attacking threat for Al Ittihad and, 14 minutes from time, he went close again as he sent his left foot volley just over the target.

Those misses were to prove costly as, with just 10 minutes remaining, referee Kim Dong-jin pointed to the spot after Oleg Zoteev was brought down inside the area by Yasyn Hamza and Abdukholikov calmly rolled the ball home having sent goalkeeper Al Qarni the wrong way.

In the dying minutes, Gelmin Rivas thought he had scored, only for Sherzod Fayziev to clear the ball off the line as the Uzbek side held on to take a share of the spoils.

“We managed to get a point from Al Ittihad, which is something positive because we were playing away,” said Lokomotiv coach Mirko Jelicic. “I watched the match of Al Ittihad against Al Hilal and we studied them very well.

“The result today was important for us because not only did we avoid defeat but we managed to have a good performance as well. We had an excellent performance, especially in the second half when we dominated the proceedings.”