Rabee Lafoui gave the hosts the lead in the seventh minute only for Neftchi to equalize through Mansurjon Saidov in the 24th minute before Alisher Halikov converted from the penalty spot to hand the Uzbeks the lead.

Lafoui, however, scored again in one minute from time to earn his side a point and maintain their unbeaten run in the competition, but Ameen was far from happy.

“The early goal that we scored didn’t help us because we didn’t continue with the same effort after taking the lead,” he said.

“Neftchi scored two goals from two mistakes and we could have avoided these two goals.

“In the second half, the changes that we made helped us to control the game before securing a point one minute before the end and the draw was similar to the one Neftchi got in the previous match.”

Despite picking up a point on their travels which keeps them in contention for a place in the knockout phase, Neftchi coach Yuriy Sarkisyan was far from satisfied.

“We were hoping to win the game especially that we were close to get this win,” he said.

“However we couldn’t hold on to our lead and things could have been better for us in the group if we got a win tonight.”

“Our situation now is really hard as we have five points only from four matches. We tried to use different tactics throughout the game to hold on to the lead but we couldn’t do so and we conceded a late goal.”

Al Ahed, meanwhile, missed an opportunity to replace Busaiteen at the top of the standings when they were surprisingly defeated 2-1 by Al Tilal as the Yemenis secured their first win of the campaign.

“After taking the lead, we tried to save our effort for the second half especially because the players were affected by the lack of oxygen and I was personally affected by the high altitude of the place,” said coach Fouad Saad.

“I’m convinced with the result and the performance of the players in the game we are still in contention and our game against Neftchi will be the decisive game for us.”