A 22nd-minute penalty from Odil Ahmedov and Zaynitidn Tadijyev’s finish to an incisive counter-attack midway through the second period saw perennial AFC Champions League qualifiers Pakhtakor begin their Group A assault in the 2009 edition in winning fashion.

“It was a difficult game for us and to win three points away from home is a fantastic start,” Djalilov said.

“We expected stronger and more attacking play from Al Ahli but we got on top of them and didn’t allow them to take the game away from us.

“The key factor was that we were better organised in the defence and used the two flanks to attack, which worked out well for us. And as a team, we were the more creative, and the second goal was from a very good counter attack.”

Egyptian Hosni Abdulrabou pulled a goal back for Al Ahli in the dying moments but they were left to rue a missed penalty from Cezar eight minutes into the second-half.

Coach Ivan Hasek admitted the inexperience of his players began to tell but felt it they could still draw lessons in defeat.

“We had our chances but we couldn’t score,” he said.

“We missed a penalty that could have got us back in the game. And then we started to make more mistakes as the pressure started to grow.

“It was a good experience for my players though. We need to play more at this level to get better. We scored a goal towards the end but it could have been a lot closer had we scored from the spot earlier.

“But these things will keep happening in football however much we come prepared. It was obviously a poor start but we’ll try to get back in this competition.”