Rivaldo opened the scoring with 28 minutes gone at the JAR Stadium and fellow Brazilian Denilson doubled the lead three minutes later following a horrendous error from keeper Mohammed Al Hosani.

Denilson added a third with a consummate finish just before the hour mark and Azizbek Haydarov netted the fourth with an exquisite 35-yard strike into the top corner, while Talal Abdulla converted a penalty in stoppage time for Al Wahda.

At the very least, Bunyodkor needed to beat the UAE side to keep their hopes alive but were sluggish in the opening 20 minutes.

They should have fallen behind when Ahmed Ali got the better of Sakhob Juraev but with keeper Ignatiy Nesterov rooted to his line, the forward fired disappointingly wide.

It was to prove a costly miss as in the 28th minute, Bunyodkor took the lead when Server Djeparov’s dangerous cross from the left was met by an unmarked Rivaldo in the six-yard box and the Brazilian had a simple task to nod in the opener.

The hosts were then gifted a second three minutes later. An aimless long punt forward seemed to present little cause for concern and Al Wahda keeper Al Hosani charged out of his goal to clear but his wild hack completely missed the ball and Denilson knocked the ball into the empty net.

Joao Victor then headed Jasur Hasanov’s centre straight at the keeper when he should have score one minute later before Saeed Al Khatri wasted a good opportunity on the stroke of half-time, missing the target when well placed.

Al Hosani did well to parry Denilson’s close-range effort after Al Wahda defender Hamdan Al Kamali cushioned the ball into the Brazilian striker’s path two minutes into the second period.

Mohamed Othman rattled the cross bar with a 30-yard free-kick before Bunyodkor notched their third in the 57th minute when Hasanov’s cutback picked out Denilson and the striker lashed the ball into the roof of the net.

Another Hasanov cross was met by Djeparov in the box but Al Hosani did well to save low down to his left before Al Kathri drew a flying fingertip save from Nesterov at the other end with a long-range effort.

Bunyodkor’s fourth goal came in spectacular fashion 11 minutes from time. There seemed little danger when Haydarov picked the ball up 35 yards out but the defender unleashed a thunderbolt that flew into the top corner, giving the Al Wahda keeper no chance.

The visitors claimed a consolation goal in stoppage time when Anvar Gafurov was adjudged to have committed a foul in the box and Abdulla converted the resultant penalty, although Nesterov got a hand to it.