Both teams had lost their previous matches in the group, with Al Ittihad falling to a 4-1 defeat against Al Wahda and Lokomotiv losing 2-1 to Al Rayyan.

The first opportunity of the game came Lokomotiv’s way after 10 minutes as Oleg Zoteev whipped a cross for Jovan Djokic who headed it wide.

The two sides went into the fixture level on three points, with goal difference favouring Al Wahda.

Al Rayyan looked to pump crosses into the box for Gelmin Rivas throughout the first half with the Venezuelan striker seeing his header saved by goalkeeper Mohammed Al Shamsi at the 15-minute mark.

Rivas was again at the receiving end of a Mohammed Juma cross six minutes later, but he failed direct his header goalward.

The 2018 finalists took the lead for the first time this campaign after 18 minutes with what was the first real chance of the match.

Al Ahli's defence failed to deal with a long throw-in from Mehdi Shiri and defender Shojae Khalilzadeh was in the right spot and went for the spectacular, volleying home from inside the box past a helpless Mohammed Al Owais.

Two minutes later, Ahmad Noorollahi tried his luck for Persepolis from distance, but his shot missed by inches.

The recently crowned Qatar Stars League champions came into the match having ended a four-match winless run in the competition. Meanwhile, Pakhtakor hoped to stay unbeaten on top of the group with a home win.

Both sides made their attacking intents clear from the start and Pakhtakor’s Jaloliddin Masharipov tested the goalkeeper from distance just 90 seconds into the match.

Al Sadd’s first sight of goal came quickly after and it was decisive as Baghdad Bounedjah supplied a low cross for Xavi who curled it from the edge of the box into the top corner to open the scoring for the visitors in the sixth minute.

The victory takes Shandong second in Group E, two points behind leaders Kashima Antlers, while JDT remain at the bottom of the standings with just one point.

On a cold and rainy night the home side were searching for their first win of the campaign after draws in their previous two Group E encounters with Shandong Luneng and Johor Darul Ta’zim.

It was the visitors who had the first clear shot on goal in the ninth minute when Koki Anzai found space on the edge of the area, but the defender lashed his shot wide of the mark.

With a perfect four wins from four in the Chinese Super League, the Chinese club were looking to bring their domestic form onto the Continental stage and they made the perfect start when Bakambu opened the scoring in just the second minute after turning in a low cross from Li Lei.

The home side looked to respond and had a flurry of chances midway through the first half with Pedro Junior, Supachai Jaided and Supachok Sarachart all seeing their efforts denied by a determined Beijing defence.