Al Dawsari opened the scoring midway through the first half when Mukhtar Ali collected the ball inside the Tajik half and fed the Saudi Arabia captain who showed great skill to move past two players and drill an effort from outside the box which nestled into the back of the net.

 

Tajikistan nearly equalised just minutes later when defender Awn Al Saluli slipped, allowing Shahrom Samiev’s ball to reach Alisher Dzhalilov who had just the goalkeeper to beat and aimed his left-footed finish towards the bottom corner, only to be denied by the stretched leg of Mohammed Al Owais.

In the Tajik side’s first game under new boss Gela Shekiladze, Dzhalilov was again the dangerman and he had to be denied by a last-ditch intervention from Al Saluli after the forward had advanced down the right and sent a powerful low cross that was blocked just before it reached Samiev inside the six-yard-box.

 

A misplaced pass from Hanonov allowed Ali to take possession and find Mohammed Kanno who rifled from 30 yards out, but his effort just caressed the outside of the net and went behind for a goal-kick.

Goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov was called upon and made the save to stop Faisal Al Ghamdi’s header from Al Dawsari’s corner, keeping the damage limited to one goal going into the final ten minutes of the match.

 

Manuchekhr Safarov produced a heroic tackle to deny Saud Abdulhamid what could have been a wonder goal after the right-back embarked on a solo run, beating multiple players on his way to the Tajik box, but just as he pulled the trigger from close range, Safarov threw his body on the way to block the shot.