Needing a win to seal qualification on the night, the Turkmen side went ahead inside seven minutes thanks to Aleksander Mischenko’s unfortunate own goal, before captain Elman Tagayev swept home the sealer 12 minutes from time to make it two wins from two for Arazov’s men.

Runners-up for the last four seasons in Turkmenistan’s Yokary Liga, Ahal knew only winning the three-team Group E would be good enough to reach August’s Zonal finals, and they completed the task with back-to-back wins.

Behind to a disastrous goalkeeping error in the blink of an eye and starting down the barrel of a heavy defeat at 4-1 down after 48 minutes, Alay roared back into contention thanks to a pair of own goals from Guychmyrat Annagulyyev and Furkat Tursunov before remarkably equalising through Adilet Nurlan uulu in the 89th minute.

But just as it looked like Alay had salvaged a first ever AFC Cup point against Turkmen opposition, Asadbek Alimov fouled Altyn Asyr substitute Rahman Myratberdiyev, with Altymyrat Annadurdyyev stepping up to ease home the winner – his fourth goal in two matches – in the third minute of stoppage time.

Hojaahmet Arazov’s side went ahead through an early own goal from Dordoi’s Alexander Mischenko, before the points were made safe by captain Elman Tagayev 12 minutes from time.

Ahal’s tally of six points means they now cannot be overhauled by either Dordoi or Tajikistan’s FC Ravshan, who will complete the Group E schedule with a dead rubber on Thursday.

Having put four past Kyrgyz Republic side FC Alay in their opening match, the 2011 winners romped to a three-goal lead by half-time and went on to protect their advantage, securing a second consecutive win.

With the result, Nasaf move to the top of Group F with six points to their name. They will need to avoid defeat against Altyn Asyr on the final matchday to secure passage to the Zonal finals.

Talisca will be joining the Riyadh giants from China PR side Guangzhou FC, with whom he played three years and won the 2019 Chinese Super League title.

The Japanese coach has not selected the Selangor centre-half as a precaution after he suffered a recent concussion, but has included uncapped trio Saifullah Akbar, Idraki Adnan and Ilhan Fandi in a squad captained by new Lions City Sailors signing Hariss Harun.

The Finnish coach has picked 16 players from Hong Kong Premier League title chasing duo Eastern and Kitchee as the territory looks to make an impact in Group C against Bahrain, Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran and Cambodia.