Mohammad Nori put the visitors ahead after five minutes but the hosts got back on level terms through Odil Ahmedov’s controversial penalty before Stanislav Andreev took advantage of poor defending to net the winner just after half-time.

The result maintained Pakhtakor’s unbeaten record in the 2009 AFC Champions League, which kept them at the top of Group A with 10 points from four games and virtually assured them of a spot in the last 16.

“The most important thing for us was to get the win tonight,” said Djalilov.

“We conceded a very poor goal in the early minutes of the match. We tried our best to overcome that and we are happy that we did it.

“Of course we made mistakes but I am happy that we got the win which has made our fans very happy.”

It was the first home win in the competition for Pakhtakor who were held 1-1 by Al Hilal in their previous match in Tashkent.

But although the Uzbek side have been successful in both of their away matches, Djalilov would still prefer to see his team secure first place in the group and a home match for the round of 16.

“Right now we are playing better in our away matches but if you’re playing home you have the support of your fans.

“So I would prefer for us to be playing at home.”

Saba Battery coach Firouz Karimi admitted that his team were outplayed by a better side as they saw their hopes of advancement suffer a huge blow after their second straight loss to Pakhtakor.

“It was very interesting match. The players did their best, both technically and tactically, but Pakhtakor proved that they had studied us very carefully and they managed to beat us once again,” he said.

“Both teams had chances to score goals but our opponents converted one more chance than we did.

“Pakhtakor are a well balanced team but I’d like to say that their goalkeeper and defence were perfect today.”

With only two points from four games, the Iranian side will need plenty of help to reach the knockout stage.

But Karimi insisted that his side had not thrown in the towel yet.

“Before entering the tournament we thought that we contend to win the group but right now we have almost no chance to even finish second.

“Despite that, we will fight to win all of our remaining matches.”