The two teams had played out a 2-2 draw a fortnight ago in Tashkent and a single point separated them before kick-off, as Pakhtakor topped the group with five points.

Al Sadd needed just 10 minutes to take the lead through Xavi who, just as in the previous game, curled a free-kick into the top corner of Sanjar Kuvvatov net.

The two teams came into the match occupying the last two places in the group, with Persepolis sitting third with four points after their 2-0 win against Al Ahli on Matchday Three left the Saudis bottom of the group with three points.

The first chance of the match fell Persepolis’ way after six minutes as Iraqi international midfielder Bashar Resan dribbled down the right and drilled a shot from inside the box, but goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais made the save low to his near post.

Al Wahda had come from behind to defeat Al Rayyan 2-1 in Doha two weeks ago and top the group with six points. So, the return fixture offered a chance for the Qataris to catch their opponents.

The visitors came racing off the blocks and were in front within 120 seconds through Sebastian Soria.

The former Qatari international striker evaded his marker inside the box and headed home from Rodrigo Tabata’s free-kick to hand Al Rayyan an early lead.

Al Ittihad had won their previous encounter against Lokomotiv on Matchday Three thanks to an added-time penalty from Fahad Al Muwallad.

The winger was again the dangerman for the Saudi side. His 10th-minute corner kick found Brazilian forward Romarinho in plenty of space inside the Lokomotiv box, and the former Al Jazira striker converted the opener.

Lokomotiv looked to respond through Temurkhuja Abdukholikov, whose curling effort from the edge of the box went just over the crossbar three minutes after.

With some teams looking to secure their places in the knockout rounds at this early stage and others aiming to keep their qualification hopes alive, the-AFC.com has picked out five things to look out for.

First up are the sides in Groups F and H, who will play their Matchday Four fixtures on Tuesday, before the remaining teams in Groups E and G round off the week’s action on Wednesday.