While the home side dominated possession with Oleg Zoteev hitting the post in the 18th minute, they were ultimately undone when Al Dawsari pounced to sweep the ball home after Abdulla Zori had been denied by Bunyodkor goalkeeper Akbar Turaev.

For all of their possession, Bunyodkor lacked a cutting edge and they will now need to win the return match in Riyadh next Wednesday in order to progress to the Quarter-finals. Bunyodkor dominated the early exchanges and they went close to taking thi lead in the 14th minute when Sardor Rashidov’s free-kick picked out Oleksandr Pyshchur who sent his header just over the Al Hilal crossbar.

Four minutes later, Zoteev played a neat one-two on the edge of the box with Vokhid Shodiev and then stretched to poke the ball past an advancing Abdullah Al Sdairy. Unfortunately for the hosts, the ball struck the base of the left upright and rebounded into the grateful arms of the Al Hilal goalkeeper.

While Al Hilal were content to sit back and soak up the pressure, they were a constant threat on the counter-attack and they took the lead seven minutes before half-time.

Zori brought the ball in from the left flank and he exchanged quick passes with Yasser Al Qahtani which opened up the Bunyodkor defence. Turaev came off his line quickly to try and snuff out the danger but while he managed to smother Zori’s shot, the loose ball was picked up by Salem Al Dawsari who drilled a low shot past three defenders on the line.

Bunyodkor had their opportunities to restore parity before half-time. Sardor Rashidov rushed his effort and shot over when he found himself in space on the left of the Al Hilal box while Pyshchur had the ball knocked down to him on the edge of the box by Shodiev but blazed his effort high over the crossbar.

The visitors could have extended their lead early in the second half as Mohammed Al Shalhoub saw his free-kick tipped over by Turaev while Zori sent an acrobatic bicycle kick just clear the crossbar.

While Bunyodkor continued to dominate possession after the interval, they were unable to fashion any more clear-cut chances and were restricted to shots from distance as the Al Hilal defence kept them firmly in check.

Al Sdairy had to make a good diving save to keep out an effort by Hayrulla Karimov but the goalkeeper was rarely troubled otherwise in the second half as he kept his fourth consecutive clean sheet in the competition.