Sharjah saw the bulk of possession in a cagey opening 15 minutes, but it was Air Force Club who had the first chance of the game as Ibrahim Bayesh looked to test the goalkeeper from range, but his eighth minute effort was deflected off defender Abdullah Ghanim and collected by Adel Al Hosani.

The two sides exchanged chances midway through the half with striker Ayman Hussein powering through and taking a pop from a narrow angle, forcing a save out of Al Hosani and winger Caio responded in kind at the other end of the pitch as Air Force Club’s Fahad Taleb produced his first save of the night.

After a shy start to the game from both sides, it was Pakhtakor who took the initiative at the quarter-hour mark as Dragan Ceran advanced down the middle and supplied a fine through pass for Erin Derdiok who fired low from inside the box, but Tractor goalkeeper Mohammadreza Akhbari produced a quick save with his feet at the near post.

It was heartbreak at the end for Islamic Republic of Iran side Foolad, who looked to have sealed a famous win against the Qatar champions.

The draw means FC Goa and Al Rayyan are third in Group E, two points behind Islamic Republic of Iran’s Persepolis FC, who defeated Al Wahda of UAE 1-0 in their match earlier on Wednesday.

Following the success of the 2020 competition held in Qatar, this year’s group stage takes place in a centralised format but across four cities in three different countries as the AFC continues to find solutions for the beautiful game in the continent to navigate the challenges of the pandemic.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and - for the first time - India are hosting the 2021 AFC Champions League group stage games. the-AFC.com profiles the host grounds.

Some of these starlets are established players for their club sides and some have even appeared in previous AFC Champions League seasons, while several are just breaking into the starting XI, but those U23 players are all eyeing a milestone campaign over the next three weeks.

With no shortage of attacking talent on display, we shine the spotlight on six frontmen who are on fire in their clubs’ domestic campaigns and could be set to bring those hot streaks onto the Asian stage in this year's continental club competition.