With the game seemingly heading to a goalless conclusion, Bunyodkor substitute Murzoev Kamoliddin - on the pitch for just two minutes – set up Azizbek Haydarov to give the visitors an 84th minute lead that looked to have snatched the win.

However Brazilian striker Hugo, a 63rd minute substitute for hosts Al Wahda, equalised just three minutes later to ensure the spoils were shared.

With the domestic season yet to get under way in Uzbekistan and a healthy number of comings and goings at the Tashkent club during the off-season, a slow start could have been expected and Kasimov was delighted to be proved wrong.

“This is our first official game of the season and I am pleased with the result. My players got off to a difficult start and they showed a lot of nerves in the early part,” said Kasimov, who unveiled 11 new players last week.

“But soon they settled down and in the second-half they did reveal their class.

“Al Wahda are just like how they were last year but my team needs more time to get into a comfortable zone. For me this is a good start at this time of the season, as we are just starting off.

“We made some mistakes in defence and as I said, we will iron out these weak points. I am confident that we have a good team but we will have to build them into a winning team.”

Al Wahda have endured mixed fortunes on the domestic front and coach Josef Hickesberger stressed it was difficult to end a poor run of form against one of Asia's top sides.

“We have a few injuries and it is not easy to come out of our poor form and take on a team like Bunyodkor,” he said.

The quality of competition at this level is different and difficult.

“But my team did create a lot of chances, we missed two in the first half. We also showed some character when we fought back after being a goal down with just five minutes left.”