Neither team created much in front of goal in a disappointing encounter at the Yadegar-E-Emam Stadium, with Al Ahli claiming a point following their 2-1 defeat at the hands of Pakhtakor last week.
The draw was Saba Battery’s second in a row after they earned a point in Riyadh thanks to a 1-1 draw with Al Hilal.
There was little between the teams in the opening 40 minutes, but with five minutes remaining in the first half Saba Battery started to crank up the pressure on the visitors.
With three minutes left on the clock, Gholamreza Rezaei was just wide of the target with his header with goalkeeper Obaid Al Suwaidi well beaten.
Two minutes later, Sheys Razaei almost caught Al Suwaidi out with a miss-hit cross that came back off the goalkeeper’s left post while seconds later Mohsen Bayat’s diving header was straight into Al Suwaidi’s arms.
After failing to impress in the opening half, Al Ahli made more of the running at the start of the second half.
Just eight minutes after the resumption, the UAE club’s Iranian striker Milad Meidavoudi, with time and space to shoot, flashed his effort wide of the target when he had the goal at his mercy.
At the other end, Gholamreza Rezaei just failed to make a strong enough connection following Adel Kolahkaj’s corner to break the deadlock, the Iran international glancing his header well wide of the target.
Seventeen minutes from time, Saba Battery’s inability to make their territorial advantage count almost proved costly thanks to a handling error by goalkeeper Almir Tolja.
Former Gamba Osaka striker Bare laid the ball off to his Brazilian compatriot Cesar, whose cross was fumbled by the keeper under pressure from Ahmad Khalil only for the AFC Youth Player of the Year to swing and miss the ball, allowing a relieved Tolja to collect.
From there, the game fizzled out, leaving both teams still looking for their first win of their AFC Champions League campaigns.