It was a cruel blow for the home side, who had enjoyed the better chances throughout but in the end were punished for lacking killer instinct in front of goal.

Pakhtakor's first chance of the game came in the sixth minute when Renat Bayramov's cross travelled beyond Al Qadisiya goalkeeper Nawaf Al Khaldi but the ball was cleared off the line.

Al Qadisiya had their first chance of the game midway through the first half when striker Bader Al Mutawa found himself in a promising position but was ruled offside.

The visitors had Nawaf Al Khaldi to thank for keeping the scores level when he did well to deny a Akmal Holmatov free kick.

Pakhtakor should have opened the scoring when Renat Bayramov's corner fell to Anzur Ismailov, whose powerful header struck the goalkeeper and then a post before being cleared.

Pakhtakor continued to attack after the break and in the 54th minute Alexander Geynrikh hit the crossbar with just the goalkeeper to beat.

With 15 minutes remaining, Pakhtakor once again had the chance to score when Ilhomjon Suyunov sent an effort wide before Bader Al Mutawa's shot was saved by Pakhtakor goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov with nine minutes remaining.

But Pakhtakor were dealt a late blow when Al Qadisyia found the winner as Ajab latched onto a long ball before lashing a volley home.