(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Qatar's Al Rayyan came from behind to earn a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Uzbekistan's PFC Lokomotiv at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Matchday Two of the 2019 AFC Champions League Group B yesterday.
Lokomotiv had collected all three points in their opening fixture at home against Al Wahda, while Al Rayyan were subjected to a 5-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad last week in Jeddah.
The visitors came racing off the blocks and stormed into the lead within four minutes of kick-off to the stunned silent of the home crowd. Temurkhuja Abdukholikov outmuscled Rodrigo Tabata in midfield to gain possession of the ball and exchanged passes with Jamshid Iskanderov before crossing for Diyorjon Turapov who tapped in at the far post to give Lokomotiv the lead early on.
It took Al Rayyan a few minutes to regroup, but they eventually did and started creating chances. Striker Gelmin Rivas tried his luck from long range but narrowly missed the target. Lokomotiv nearly doubled their lead in the same fashion as their opener, but Jovan Djokic's final touch let him down as he sent the ball high from eight yards out halfway through the first half.
Al Rayyan equalised in the 38th minute through Lucca Borges who received Rivas' pass inside the box and rifled in at the near post to restore parity. The Qatari side's comeback was completed 13 minutes after the restart as Rivas turned from provider to scorer. Tabata's long pass from a free-kick found substitute Sebastian Soria at the far post and the former Qatari international sent a drilled cross across the mouth of goal for the Venezuelan who was well-positioned to apply the finish.
Al Rayyan's next match has them hosting UAE's Al Wahda on April 9th, while Lokomotiv are on the road again as they face Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad in
Jeddah.
In other match, UAE's Al Wahda FC defeated visitors Al Ittihad Club Saudi Arabia 4-1 in a Group B encounter at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Al Wahda had suffered a 2-0 defeat to Lokomotiv in the opening match day, but are firmly back in business with the thrashing of Saudi Pro League side Ittihad who in turn had beaten Al Rayyan in their opener last week.
After passing up a couple of good chances, Mohamed al-Menhali tapped in a cross from Sebastian Tagliabue to put the hosts in front in the 32nd minute before Leonardo de Souza made it 2-0 seven minutes after restart. Nasser al-Shamrani pulled one back for the visitors four minutes later, but it was substitute and UAE veteran Ismail Matar who scored a lovely free kick in the 80th minute to put the game beyond the Saudis. Al Wahda still had enough time to add a fourth as Leonardo found his second of the night in the second half added time. The results mean that all teams in the Group B now have three points each.
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