The hosts were dominant from the start and had ended the game as a contest before half time with goals from Hamza Karimov, Rustam Kadyrov, Batyr Kadyrkulov and Siarhey Krot.

The victory means that Nasaf are top of Group C with 10 points, the same as Kuwaitis Kazma while Al Jaish of Syria are three points behind in third.

Nasaf had won 4-0 in their last game with Al Ahed in Lebanon but Kumikov was surprised to see his side’s opponents not play better than they did in the previous encounter.

“We expected a better performance from Al Ahed,” he said.

“When we played them in Beirut they were much better.

“They lost patience after the second goal went it in.”

After such a dominant performance in the first half, Nasaf appeared to relax after the break and Kumikov explained it was because he did not want his players to risk unnecessary bookings.

“In the second half we were more concerned about possible suspensions since we had four cautioned players already and we also were thinking about preventing players from getting injuries,” he added.

“Even we can get to the quarter-finals it will be good for us because then we have home and away matches. We will try our best to get as far as we can.”

Al Ahed coach Mahmoud Hammoud held his hands up after the match and admitted he made a tactical error in the first half which allowed Nasaf to build a lead.

“We made a mistake then we changed the positions of some our players in the first half. It costs us with three goals,” he said.

“We made the necessary changes in the second half and we managed to keep score the same as it was.”

Hammoud, meanwhile, believes Nasaf showed the kind of qualities that could see them through to the final.

“Nasaf are a really good team and today’s result only proves it,” he added.

“I think they can reach the final.”