The hosts dominated for the entirety of the first half but it took until the stroke of half time for them to open the scoring when Sherzod Karimov fired home.

Bader Al Motawaa levelled five minutes into the second half when he completed the simplest of finishes after Victor Figueroa unselfishly opted to square the ball to the striker from close range.

Dilshod Sharofetdinov put Pakhtakor ahead once again on the hour when he nodded home after Kakhi Makharadze headed the ball back across the face of goal.

However, Al Nassr finished strongly with the introduction of Mohammad Al Sahlawi invigorating them and it was from his late cross that caused Bojan Miladinovic to put the ball into his own net when attempting to clear.

The result means that all four teams in Group B are on one point each after Al Sadd and Esteghlal drew 1-1.

And Skokic was delighted with the manner of his side’s victory, particularly given the difficult conditions his side had to cope with.

“I’m satisfied with tonight’s result. My players had to overcome difficult circumstances during the match,” he said.

“Twice we were behind our opponents but thanks to our spirit we managed to play well and draw in an away match.

“The match was tough since we have been played against experienced opponents, thousands of supporters and difficult weather conditions. Therefore I’m proud with my team.”

Pakhtakor coach Ravshan Haydarov was understandably frustrated that his side could not hold out for the victory but is confident they will improve as the tournament progresses.

“I’m disappointed with result. We were very close to winning,” he said.

“Although the match was exciting, and I guess the fans liked it, but of course we are not satisfied with the result.

“Our own mistakes in midfield as well as in defence cost us the win but I’m thinking we will get much better as this was only our first official match this season.”