Mohammad Reza Khalatbari capitalised on a first-half goalkeeping error from Bunyodkor goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov to establish a three-point lead at the top of the table with two games remaining after Al Ittihad eased to a 4-0 win over Al Wahda to claim second place.

Bunyodkor boss Luiz Felipe Scolari surprisingly named Rivaldo and Joao Victor in his starting line-up despite ruling the pair out yesterday.

And the home side made a good start as the Uzbekistan champions looked to bounce back from last week's defeat by Zob Ahan as Victor Karpenko, Denilson and Jasur Hasanov all came close.

But against the run of play just before the half-hour mark Mohammad Ghazi flicked on a long throw and after Nesterov dropped the ball, Khalatbari poked home from close range.

Rivaldo, who was clearly struggling, fired wide just before the break before Server Djeparov came close for Bunyodkor at the start of the second half.

But six minutes after the hour mark the home side were reduced to 10 men as Rivaldo was sent off following a high foot on Mohammad Mansouri which caught the Zob Ahan man under the chin.

Bunyodkor piled on the pressure in the closing stages but Djeparov was denied by goalkeeper Shahab Gordon, who ensured Zob Ahan strengthened their position in Group B with a late save from Denilson.

In Jeddah, Al Ittihad scored four goals in an impressive first-half display to eliminate pointless Al Wahda.

Saud Khariri scored twice either side of goals from Abdelmalik Ziaya and Sultan Al Numare in the first 32 minutes at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium.

Ziaya's second was the pick of the goals after 19 minutes as the midfielder spectacularly found the net from 35 yards before Al Numare killed off the contest 13 minutes before the break with a clever overhead kick inside the six-yard area.

The home side clearly took their foot off the gas in the second half and despite improving after the break, Al Wahda crashed to a fourth consecutive defeat.