Needing to secure their first win of the continental campaign and for Iran’s Foolad Khouzestan to defeat El Jaish in Group B’s other tie; the Uzbek side got off to a good start against winless Al Fateh and took the lead in the 42nd minute through midfielder Oleg Zoteev.

But second-half goals from Doris Fuakuputu and Hamdan Al Hamdan turned the tide in Al Fateh’s favour until Bunyodkor struck twice in the final seven minutes through first Vokhid Shodiev and then substitute Alibobo Rakhmatullaev to take all three points and break Al Fateh hearts.

With Foolad posting a 3-1 win over El Jaish to win the group, Bunyodkor can still claim a place in the knockout stages should they defeat the Qatari side in the final round of fixtures next week.

Knowing that the game was very much a must-win for both teams, the Uzbekistan champions came out all guns blazing in Tashkent with Al Fateh goalkeeper Ali Al Mazyadi called into action early on to block early chances from Jovlon Ibrokhimov and Oleksandr Pyshur. With quarter of an hour gone and the game going against them, Al Fateh made an early change bringing on Abdulaziz Bo Shaqra for Ammar Jemal and the substitution seemed to work with the side playing themselves back into the game.

However, with three minutes remaining of the first half, Bunyodkor took the lead as Shodiev supplied the pass for Zoteev to finish past the Al Fateh custodian, the-afc.com reported.

After the interval the Saudi side continued their improved play and after a long spell of possession scored their first ever AFC Champions League goal on 69 minutes as Congolese forward Fuakuputu fired past Akbar Turaev with his shot clipping the underside of the crossbar as it flew into the net.

And nine minutes later they had their second to take the lead as Al Hamdan capitalized on a mistake by his fellow captain Hayrulla Karimov to hammer past Turaev.

But the Al Fateh celebrations were cut short after just four minutes when Shodiev levelled the tie on 82 minutes after an assist from Pyshur.

And it got worse for the visitors as only another three minutes had passed before Ibrokhimov found substitute Rakhmatuallev surging into the box and the midfielder blasted a shot into the top corner beating Al Mazyadi to claim all three points for Bunyodkor.