Qatar's Lekhwiya maintains unbeaten Champions League run

Lekhwiya has a 1 point advantage over Pakhtakor in Group B Qatari football champions Lekhwiya extended their unbeaten Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League record this season with a thrilling 2-2 draw against Uzbek team Pakhtakor in a Group B encounter in Tashkent on Tuesday.
Sebastian Soria’s fourth goal of the campaign had set Lekhwiya on their way to following up last week’s 3-1 win over Pakhtakor in Doha, only for Gulom Urunov to also score for the second consecutive game to pull the home side level in spectacular fashion midway through the first half.
Dame Traore’s own goal just after half-time then gave Pakhtakor hope of reclaiming their place at the top of the table, but Tunisian midfielder Youssef Msakni struck midway through the second half to maintain Lekhwiya’s one point lead over the Uzbekistan champions at the top of the table.
After the match, Lekhwiya coach Eric Gerets told the official AFC website: "Both teams played well tonight, I think draw was a fair result.
"We scored very fast and then players tried to defend and Pakhtakor equalised as a result of this. Our opponent is good and they have a lot of experience in the AFC Champions League.
"If we win both matches, the two teams that played today can qualify to the next round, but we expect two interesting games."
Pakhtakor coach Murod Ismailov told the AFC website: "We made serious mistake in the first minute of the match after I told my players that they should be ready from the beginning.
"But it is good that we made a comeback and scored two goals. We had a very good chance in the last few minutes, but the striker couldn't take it.
“We played well and the players tried to secure the winning goal until the last seconds of the match," he added.