Oliveria struck from outside the penalty area as the Indian side came back for a second time after Neftchi had twice taken the lead in their quest for back-to-back wins in this year’s AFC Cup after defeating Al Wehdat on Matchday One.

Otabek Isroilov had given Neftchi the lead with a free kick in the 27th minute but Japanese midfielder Ryuji Sueoka levelled the scores in the dying seconds of the first half.

Aziz Alijonov then put Neftchi back in control with a goal on the counterattack before Olivera struck to secure Salgaocar their first point of the campaign.

“I’m very happy with this result,” said Salgaocar’s Moroccan coach Karim Bencherifa. “After this draw we are very much in the competition and I have to give all the credit to the boys, who played beyond their potential.

“I had studied a few Neftchi games before we played. I had seen a few videos of some of their games and we were able to stop them from playing their natural passing game. I think that was the decisive factor, we didn’t allow them to play.”

Neftchi coach Yuriy Sarkisyan was frustrated by the performance, which had come after an arduous journey that saw his team travel to Gao from Fergana via Tashkent and New Delhi before playing in conditions far removed from those currently being experienced in Uzbekistan.

“I’m not happy with the way the team played but on second thoughts we have been travelling a lot,” he said. “The players were tired and the climate in Uzbekistan was freezing when we left.

“It was too much for us and we were tired at the end, but we held on. The result could have been better but we missed a lot of chances.”