ACL MD2 - GROUP B: BUNYODKOR 0-1 AL NASSR

The former West Ham United forward, who joined Al Nassr last summer, netted in the 35th minute with what proved to be the game’s only goal at Bunyodkor Stadium.

Bunyodkor did, though, nearly score a dramatic equaliser in stoppage time as their goalkeeper, Murotjon Zukhurov, hit the crossbar in after coming up for a corner.

"Unlike our first meeting in Riyadh last week where we allowed Bunyodkor the ball, we controlled the ball and thereby the game and this brought us victory," said Al Nassr coach Raul Caneda.

"Our plans worked well in the first half but not as well in the second half as Bunyodkor tried to play attacking football and we were forced to play on the counter with both sides creating lots of chances.

"Bunyodkor is a strong club so we had to play with all our effort to defeat them."

After a cagey opening period,  Shakhzodbek Nurmatov had the first sight of goal as he went clear through on the 11th minute only for an alert Abdullah Al Enezi to sprint out of the Al Nassr goal to smother the ball at the forward’s feet.

Polish midfielder Adrian Mierzejewski then went close at the other end on 18 minutes with a wickedly dipping 25-yard free-kick that drew a flying save from Zukhurov.

And Zukhurov was called into action for more heroics just five minutes later, pulling off an impressive double save to keep out first Shaya Sharahili and then Maiga.

But the visitors were not to be denied and with 10 minutes of the first half remaining Al Nassr took the lead through Maiga.

The Mali forward received the ball to the right of the penalty area and surged past Akramjon Komilov and then Otabek Shukurov as he cut inside into the box before drilling the ball past Zukhurov, who would have been disappointed to have been beaten as his near post.

Eldor Shomurodov did have a golden opportunity to level the scores just five minutes after the restart but after forcing his way past centre-back Khalid Al Ghamdi he was unable to beat Al Enezi with a shot that lacked power.

And Maiga was then denied his second at the other end on the 74th minute as he was picked out delightfully by Hussain Abdulghani but the Malian’s firm header was tipped over by a flying Zukhurov.

But the final minutes of the tie were all Bunyodkor as they threw everything at the Al Nassr goal including Zukhurov who came up for a corner in added time and rocked the crossbar with a firm header.

"We had planned on using our midfielder Chaker Zouagi in this game but he was injured earlier today and we couldn't adequately replace this important player. And Minori Sato and Dostenbek Khamdamov also played with slight injuries," said Bunyodkor coach Sergey Lushchan.

"These problems in our squad resulted in problems in game play. However, I do think Al Nassr deserved the victory."