Abdoh Autef gave the Saudis an early lead after six minutes and Maaz made it 2-0 late in the first-half before Saad Al Harthi netted a third in the 55th minute and Maaz completed the rout with his second of the night three minutes from time.

The Saudis were looking to avenge a 3-0 defeat in Tashkent in March but nearly fell behind after six minutes when Sadriddin Abdullaev’s powerful shot from the edge of the area went over the crossbar.

But the home side opened the scoring seconds later when Mohammed Al Shalhoub’s neat pass sent clear Al Harthi, who passed to an unmarked Autef to put the ball into the empty net.

Uzbekistan should have levelled the scores when Aziz Ibragimov first sent a powerful header wide and then shot into the side netting.

The visitors would rue those misses as the Saudis doubled their advantage in the 37th minute when Al Shalhoub’s long pass picked out Maaz who fired the ball past Uzbekistan goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov with a shot into the far corner of the net.

Maaz should have scored his side’s third two minutes before the break when he received a ball inside the area but shot just past the left upright.

Uzbekistan tried to claw back the deficit early in the second half and should have pulled a goal back four minutes after the break when Ibragimov’s shot was saved by Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mansour Al Najaei.

The Saudis would extend their advantage though in the 55th minute when Al Shalhoub set up yet another goal, giving the ball to Al Harthi who lobbed the ball past Nesterov from inside the area to make it 3-0.

Saudi Arabia went close to a fourth in the 57th minute as Al Harthi’s cross from the right found Maaz whose powerful shot from close range went over the crossbar.

A fourth goal would arrive three minutes from time when Maaz received a pass inside the area before firing a powerful shot past the helpless Nesterov.