AFC - Temurkhuja Abdukholikov’s solitary strike helped unbeaten Lokomotiv defeat Iran’s Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan 1-0 in Group A of the AFC Champions League on Wednesday to leave the Uzbek side in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stage for the first time.

After a first half of few goalscoring opportunities at Lokomotiv Stadium, the hosts took the lead nine minutes after the restart through Abdukholikov’s second goal of the campaign.

Sepahan’s Brazilian striker Luciano Pereira then had a goal ruled out for offside before defender Saeid Ghaedifar was dismissed for a second bookable offence late on as Lokomotiv completed the double over their opponents to remain unbeaten in Group A.

“I’d like to congratulate the fans and the team on victory in a very difficult match,” said Lokomotiv coach Andrey Miklyayev.

“Sepahan attacked us a lot because they needed to win this game, so we tried to hit them on the counter-attack.

“There were some problems in the squad ahead of the game but we united as a team and were able to win the game.”

Lokomotiv registered their first shot on goal within five minutes when Server Djeparov’s curling free-kick from 25 yards forced goalkeeper Rahman Ahmadi into a low save to prevent the ball finding the bottom right corner.

The visitors’ only attempt on target in the first half came on 20 minutes, but Bosnian midfielder Senijad Ibricic directed his tame header from the penalty spot straight at Lokomotiv goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov.

And Lokomotiv should have done better on the stroke of half-time when they burst forward in numbers only for Abdukholikov to misplace his throughball on the edge of the area at the vital moment.

But Abdukholikov made amends in the 54th minute when he ran on to a neat pass over the top from Djeparov on the left touchline before heading the ball into the area and coolly dispatching from 10 yards.

The Uzbek side then missed a golden opportunity to double their advantage on the hour mark when the unmarked Timur Kapadze misdirected his header on the edge of the six yard box after Djeparov’s corner from the left.

Sepahan finally began to show their attacking capabilities in the final 20 minutes as the visitors searched for an equaliser and Ali Karimi fired in a shot from distance on 80 minutes that was well held by Nesterov.

Pereira and midfielder Hossein Fazeli both had chances to level with six minutes remaining before the Brazilian striker was flagged offside when he finished from six yards out.

And Sepahan finished the game with 10 men as Ghaedifar was sent-off in the closing stages.

“We controlled the game in the first half but we made mistakes with our final ball and we got punished,” said Sepahan coach Igor Stimac.

“There could have been more goals in this game but Lokomotiv were able to take their chance when it came to them.

“We tried to find an equaliser after going behind but we could not use our chances.”