Ali Nasser gave Al Sadd the lead after just 16 minutes before an equaliser from Iyad Mando one minute before the interval earned Mohammed Kwid's side a share of the points.

But with Neftchi held to a draw by Al Najaf of Iraq in the evening's other fixture, Al Karama could have gone into first place ahead of the Uzbekistan side with a win.

Their chances of achieving that were enhanced when Al Sadd fielded a side that was missing a host of key names as the club prepare for their Emir's Cup final match against Qatar Sports Club on Sunday.

Brazilian duo Emerson and Felipe Jorge as well as Ecuador's Carlos Tenorio were left out of the side, but despite this the Qatari side took the lead inside the first quarter of the game.

Coming against the run of play, Al Sadd took the lead in the 16th minute with the first chance of the game when Nasser curled his effort beyond the dive of Al Karama goalkeeper Mosab Balhous.

But with Jehad Al Hussein causing problems with his darting runs, the visitors pushed hard for the equaliser and Mosab saw his shot hit the crossbar with goalkeeper Basl Zeidan well beaten.

Al Karama thought they had pulled level on the half-hour mark when Mando had the ball in the net, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.

Fourteen minutes later, though, the Syrians did equalise and it was Mando who put his name on the scoresheet when he hit a fine solo effort to leave Al Karama with all of the second half to go in search of the win.

As a result, tempers flared on a number of occasions as the game turned into a feisty encounter, but despite a heightened sense of urgency from Al Karama, neither side was able to score meaning Al Karama must defeat Neftchi in Homs in two weeks' time to progress to the quarter-finals.