The quarter-final first leg finished 1-1 but Al Ittihad had been dominant in that encounter and were once again the better side as goals from Sultan Al Nemri, Amine Chermiti, Hicham Aboucherouane and captain Mohammed Noor sealed the emphatic win.

Al Ittihad will play Nagoya Grampus for a place in the final in October after the Japanese side defeated compatriots Kawasaki Frontale in their semi-final clash.

Aboucherouane almost opened the scoring after 25 minutes when he sweetly struck an effort from 25 yards that Temur Juraev was at his best to palm over the bar.

The hosts had another good chance five minutes before the break when Chermiti was sent clean through on goal but the striker chose to cut the ball back into the area instead of pulling the trigger and the chance passed.

But they finally broke the deadlock shortly before half time when Aboucherouane’s powerful drive was punched into the path of Al Nemri and the forward stooped to head home the rebound.

Chermiti had good chance to extend the hosts’ lead early in the second half when a cross was headed by an Al Ittihad player into the path of the Tunisian, but the on-loan Hertha Berlin player flicked his effort from close-range over the bar.

But Chermiti was to prove less wasteful in the 55th minute when he connected with a long ball from midfield and volleyed into the back of the net.

Pakhtakor, meanwhile, were struggling to produce anything of note as they were reduced to attempting to repel the Al Ittihad onslaught.

The result was put beyond a doubt with 20 minutes remaining when Aboucherouane sent a deft header from a corner beyond Juraev and skipper Noor then added a fourth as he swept home when unmarked inside the area.

Noor should have added a fifth later on when he was sent clean through on goal but the midfielder unselfishly attempted to set-up a team-mate only for the defence to clear the danger.