Classy Tomic keeps Bank of Beirut in the hunt

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Following their opening day defeat to Bluewave Chonburi, Bank of Beirut were fully aware of the stakes but despite the Lebanon side's early possession, it was FC Almalyk who created the first chance inside three minutes.

Tojiboev Shukhrat clipped a lovely pass to release Abdumavlyanov Farkhod on the left flank, who then guided a dangerous cross across the goalmouth but Kuralov Sunnat failed to get his foot on a simple tap-in.

The Lebanon side then managed to convert possession into a goal, finding inspiration and a touch of class from Dragan Tomic.

The Serbian import, who featured for Al-Mayadeen - Lebanon’s representatives in the 2016 edition of the competition - showed towering strength to hold off his marker before turning past two defenders to drive a powerful left-footed shot to give Bank of Beirut the lead in the fifth minute.

Tomic played a pivotal role in extending Bank of Beirut’s lead seven minutes later, backing away from his marker, before setting-up Moustafa Serhan, who smashed home with a thunderous shot.

The match was turning into the Tomic show as the 26-year-old came close to increasing his tally after connecting masterfully from a right corner by Iranian Behroz Jafari.

The Uzbeks were then given a lifeline - somewhat against the run of play - after goal-scorer Serhan was penalised for handling the ball in the area. Irsaliev Dilshod stepped up with an unstoppable shot despite Hussein Hamadani guessing right, just two minutes before the break.

Bank of Beirut came storming out after the breather with Ahmad Kheir El Dine nearly increasing their lead just seconds into the second half after some nifty footwork saw him dribble past three Almalyk players, including goalkeeper Tyugayev Klim, but Jamoliddin Sharipov made a goal-line interception.