Having been hammered 5-0 at home by Al Sadd last time out, Al Ahli's chances of getting something out of the game at the King Fahd International Stadium seemed remote and they receded even further when Essia Al-Mehyani opened the scoring after 48 minutes.

But Abd Rabou's injury-time free-kick secured an unlikely point for the UAE side, much to the delight of new boss Nooreddine Al Obaidy.

Four goals in 14 minutes saw Al Sadd put their Qatar League disappointment behind them with a 4-1 rout of Mes Kerman in the same group.

Edinho had given the visitors the lead with 20 minutes gone at Shekih Jassim Bin Hammam Stadium when defender Tahir Zakariya missed an attempted header just outside the area and the Brazilian raced clear to beat goalkeeper Mohamed Saqr.

But Al Sadd roared back in the second half, Leandro equalising in the opening minute when he slid home Hasan Al Haydos' cross at the back post.

The hosts took the lead three minutes later when Leandro's header came back off a post, hit Mes goalkeeper Saman Safa and ended up in the back of the net.

Barely one minute after that, Al Sadd claimed their third when skipper Jorge beautifully chipped Safa from 35 yards.

Mes then failed to deal with a corner and Leandro knocked the ball across the face of goal for Talal Al Baloushi to complete the scoring on the hour mark.