“Pakhtakor” loses to underdog “Air Force” and drops to the bottom of the table

In the 3rd round of the AFC Champions League Elite group stage, Uzbekistan Cup winner “Pakhtakor” played away against Iraq’s “Air Force”. In the match held in Baghdad, the Tashkent side unexpectedly suffered a narrow 0-1 defeat.

Having drawn their first two matches and collected 2 points, the “Lions” dropped to 12th place in the tournament table after this loss. The Iraqi club, which entered the game at the bottom of the 16-team table with zero points, increased their tally to 3 points and climbed to 10th place.

The 70th minute that decided the game

The match in Baghdad began with intense and cautious play:

• Iraqi stars against their former club: Bashar Resan and Ayman Hussein started the match for the Tashkent club against their home country's team;

• 70th minute — Abdulamir's decisive strike: In the 70th minute of the hard-fought match, host captain Saad Abdulamir opened the scoring. He managed to beat Sanjar Kuvvatov's goal following a set-piece situation;

• Late changes: Although Kapadze's students increased the pressure in the remaining minutes by bringing on Khamdamov, Alijonov, and Chinedu, they were unable to equalize.

Situation in the ACL Elite table and playoff risk

This result significantly impacted the teams' continental prospects:

• “Pakhtakor’s” decline: With only 2 points after 3 rounds, the capital club has fallen out of the playoff zone and dropped to the dangerous 12th position;

• “Air Force’s” leap: The hosts, celebrating their first victory in the competition after two consecutive defeats, climbed to 10th place.

ACL Elite. Round 3