With the score tied at 0-0 and with four minutes left on the clock, Marin took matters into his own hands, forcing his way through the heart of the opposition defence and getting on the end of Abdulrahman Ghareeb’s return pass to slot home, settling the tie and earning the Player of the Match award.

The result meant Al Ahli have six points and with three games left to play, a top-two finish secured for the Saudis following the AFC’s COVID-19 sub committee’s decision to consider Al Wahda FSCC withdrawn and annul their results.

Following the AFC’s COVID-19 Sub Committee for AFC Champions League West decision to consider Al Wahda withdrawn and their matches ‘null and void’, Al Ahli found themselves going into the Matchday Three fixture in need of just three points to guarantee a top-two spot in the now three-team Group A.

With both teams having lost their opening two fixtures, they set out to get their first points of the campaign ahead of their next game against each other three days later.

After much deliberation, the tournament will take place in centralised venues with the sides from West Asia resuming their campaign in the coming days in Qatar and those in East Asia following suit later in the year.

Much will be different for players and fans yet, ultimately, the teams are still striving for the same goal: to be crowned champions of Asia. Ahead of the big kick-off – Matchday Three in the West – the-AFC.com highlights five things to look out for.

Two points separate the two sides with Al Duhail in second place on three points, and Sharjah bottom of the group on one point, and the two sides are eager to get their continental restart underway with a win.

The Iran Pro League champions had a slow start to their continental charge, losing to Al Duhail SC 2-0 then settling for a 2-2 draw against Sharjah back in February, putting them at risk of early elimination for the second year running.

With back-to-back encounters against Al Taawoun to manoeuvre over the next four days, Persepolis’ hopes of progressing to the next round might be fully dependent on collecting points against the Saudi King’s Cup champions.

Action in the West Zone returns after some seven months, with the COVID-19 pandemic having brought football across the world to a halt. Matches will be played at the Al Janoub Stadium, Khalifa Stadium, Education City Stadium and Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.

Al Janoub Stadium, Khalifa Stadium and Education City Stadium will all host FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 matches.