Altyn Asyr raced into a two-goal lead inside 25 minutes at Sree Kanteerava Stadium after goals from Vahyt Orazsakhedov and Altymyrat Annadurdyyev, before the former added a third almost immediately after the restart to give the hosts a mountain to climb.

The Turkmen side stunned their hosts with an early lead inside 11 minutes after Altymyrat Annadurdyyev’s cross from the left flank was headed away by Bengaluru defender Nishu Kumar into the path of Selim Nurmuradov, who delivered a chipped cross for Vahyt Orazsakhedov who was left with a simple header from point-blank range.

Bengaluru nearly equalised within five minutes when talisman Sunil Chhetri got on the end of a Miku cross, but goalkeeper Mamed Orazmuhamedov produced a stellar reflex save to deny Chhetri’s header.

Orazsakhedov turned from scorer to provider in the 25th minute as he sprayed the ball out on the left wing for Annadurdyyev, who cut inside into the box before beating goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandu at his near post.

The forward’s seventh goal of the campaign took Altyn Asyr into the break with a precious 2-0 away lead.

Having exited at the same stage last year after the DPR Korea team were eliminated by India's Bengaluru FC, 4.25 are determined to go at least one better in 2018 and are now in the driving seat with the two-goal advantage ahead of next week's return meeting in Pyongyang.

In a match they dominated for long spells, DPR Korea’s 4.25 SC were unable to find the breakthrough in the opening half, but goals after the break from the hugely impressive Pak Myong-song and substitute An Il-bom look to have now put the East Zone champions in the driving seat ahead of next week’s second leg in Pyongyang.

The visitors did much of the early pressing and Han Song-hyok’s shot went close to opening the scoring on six minutes as he clipped the right post with a shot from distance.

There was more goal-mouth action again not long after as Home United’s goalkeeper Eko Pradana Putra failed to deal with a corner from the right and Pak’s header needed to be cleared off the line by a covering defender.

The hosts’ best chance of the first half came on the half-hour mark when Shahril Ishak sent Isaka Cernak down the right side of the area, but the Singapore international could only turn the return cutback wide of An Tae-song’s goal.

The Ashgabat-based club were crowned Central Asia Zonal champions after Mihail Titow’s 97th-minute goal in May ousted Tajikistan’s FC Istiklol to book a date with India’s JSW Bengaluru, who Istiklol eliminated in last year’s competition en route to their second appearance in the final.

With Central Asian sides having been represented in the AFC Cup in every edition but one since the inaugural tournament in 2004, the-AFC.com looks back at how its sides have performed over the years as Altyn Asyr look to continue the region’s recent upward trajectory.

The 59-year-old former Iraqi international's most recent appointment was as the Iraq national team head coach, with a friendly against Palestine earlier in August his final match in charge.

Qasim also previously handled the Iraq U-17 and U-19 teams as well as several clubs in Iraq and Yemen.

His major success was guiding Air Force Club to their inaugural AFC Cup title in 2016, before leaving shortly after to coach the Iraqi team.

The Falcons went on to secure their second consecutive club Continental title the following year.

Despite his young age, Musa Al Taamari's pace, skill and goals have lit up the 2018 AFC Cup as he drove Al Jazeera into their first ever Zonal Final where they face reigning champions Air Force Club later this month. His impressive displays have been rewarded with a transfer to 27-time Cypriot champions APOEL, perennial contenders in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.

As he takes on the challenge of moving to a new continent, one of Asia's brightest young talents will also be hoping to inspire Jordan to success in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in a few months' time. Al Taamari spoke to the-AFC.com about his AFC Cup memories and ambitions for the future.