Substitute player Kayo Canedo scored a late goal to lead Al Wahda to a 2-1 victory over Nasaf of Uzbekistan. The match took place at the Central Stadium in the city of Qarshi, Uzbekistan, today, in the fourth round of matches for the West Asia zone of the AFC Champions League Elite. 'Al Wahda' increased its point tally to 10, while Nasaf remains without points after its fourth defeat.
Al Wahda dominated the midfield and imposed its style of play on the home team. 'Al Wahda' almost took an early lead from an organized attack led by Bernardo Folha, who passed the ball to Fáund, and the latter shot a powerful ball that rebounded off the crossbar. The ball reached Muhammad Qurbani, who shot towards the goal, but the Nasaf defense cleared the ball before it crossed the goal line.
In turn, Nasaf relied on counter-attacks and threatened Al Wahda's goal from an attack that reached Sardorbek, who shot a powerful ball from outside the penalty area, which was saved by Muhammad Al Shamsi.
Al Wahda maintained its superiority and missed several chances to score the first goal. Jader da Silva shot a powerful ball, but it hit a Nasaf defender and changed direction, going over the crossbar. Ruben shot another ball over the crossbar. Ibrahima Diarra played a cross that Fáund met with his head, which was saved by the Nasaf goalkeeper.
In contrast, Nasaf scored the first goal against the run of play after Sardorbek received the ball in Al Wahda's penalty area and shot a powerful ball to the right of goalkeeper Muhammad Al Shamsi.
The second half saw a strong start from 'Al Wahda' after Dušan Tadić continued to shine in creating goals. He played a precise cross that Fágbor Ugbo met with his head, scoring Al Wahda's first goal in the 52nd minute.
Substitute Kayo Canedo almost scored the second goal with a powerful shot that was saved by Nasaf goalkeeper Nematov. Tadić fired a rocket from a direct free kick that was saved by the Uzbek goalkeeper. 'Al Wahda' pressured in the last ten minutes and Kayo Canedo scored the second goal in the 89th minute from a good follow-up to a cross played by Tadić, which Qurbani met with his head, rebounding off the goalkeeper, and Kayo completed it into the goal, ending the match with a victory for Al Wahda.