Mohammed Al Anbar opened the scoring for the Saudi side with a 37th minute header and second-half substitute Ahmed Al Suwailh sealed victory with the second in the 62nd minute.

Al Hilal’s reward is a home match in the last 16 against Umm Salal of Qatar while the Uzbek club will have to travel to Damman to face another Saudi outfit, Ettifaq.

Al Hilal created the first real threat in the game after five minutes when defender Mohammad Al Nakhli saw his powerful shot fly just wide of the left upright.

Al Hilal fans had a scare two minutes later when Romanian midfielder Mirel Radoi was struck by an opponent’s elbow and had to leave the pitch to get some stitches just above his eye although he managed to return to the game minutes later.

Al Hilal’s best early chance fell to Abdulla Al Zori in the 13th minute when he received a pass on the left and surged into the area with only the goalkeeper to beat only to be denied by Ignatiy Nesterov.

Pakhtakor suffered a blow on 29 minutes when midfielder Dilshod Sharofetdinov had to go off after sustaining an ankle injury and he was replaced by striker Alexander Genyrikh.

The home side eventually broke the deadlock eight minutes before the interval as Tareq El Taib sent over a cross from the left which was headed in by Al Anbar at the near post.

They should have finished the first-half with another goal as Radoi’s shot from distance went directly to Nesterov.

The Romanian midfielder had another chance four minutes after restart but his free kick flew over the crossbar.

But Al Hilal would get their second in the 62nd minute with El Taib the provider again as his neat pass allowed Al Suwailh to beat the Pakhtakor offside trap.

Nesterov came out of his box and managed to halt the substitute’s run but Al Suwailh picked himself up and got to the loose ball ahead of a defender to tuck it into the empty net with his right foot.

Pakhtakor were unable to generate any notable chances in the remaining minutes and Al Hilal could have added a third one minute before the end as a first-time shot from Abdulaziz Al Khathran sailed over the crossbar.