The hosts scored twice in the first half through Essa Obaid and Zimbabwean Musawekosi Mguni to secure their first three points in Group D.

The victory was all the more pleasing for the Unied Arab Emirates League champions after they had demolished Ajman 6-0 in their domestic league at the weekend.

And Cerezo is hopeful Al Shabab’s recent form will see them go on to enjoy success in the AFC Champions League.

“We played to our true potential and this looked like the team that won the league last season,” he said.

“I would like to think we can move forward now the confidence is back.”

Cerezo chose to employ a defensive tactic after the break in order to make sure of the win and the Brazilian was happy with the way his team performed.

“Having taken a 2-0 lead we wanted to preserve the lead,” he added. “We organised the defence and didn’t allow Bunyodkor to get back in the game and we were successful on the night.

“It is still too early to say where we stand. This was a good win and the three points keeps us in the competition.

“We still lacked the experience to score on the counter attack but I am happy it all panned out for us.

“This result was like a tonic, which we have been waiting for a long time.”

The visitors’ best chance to equalise came on the half-hour mark when Rivaldo’s free-kick from the edge of the box rattled the crossbar.

They pressed hard in the second half and gave everything in the last half-hour but failed to break the Al Shabab defence.

And departing Bunyodkor coach Amet Memet believes the fact his side were chasing the game from early on made it difficult for his players.

“They were lucky with the first goal and then scored again off a counter attack to take the game away from us,” he said.

“Having taken the lead they defended well and when a team defends it is hard for any team to score. We tried but we couldn’t.

“If Al Shabab keeps playing like this, they have a definite chance of qualifying.”