AFC - Tournament debutants El Jaish will face 2012 finalists Al Ahli in the last 16 of the AFC Champions League after a 4-2 win over Iran’s Tractorsazi Tabriz on Wednesday was not enough to claim top spot in Group A.

Tractorsazi’s Brazilian striker Geilson De Carvalho Soares had given the home side the lead after just three minutes only for El Jaish, who had to win to stand a chance of overhauling Saudi champions Al Shabab at the top of the table, to hit back at the start of the second half through Side Al Doukali and captain Ilyas Abdulqadir.

Geilson briefly restored parity with his second of the night just after the hour mark, but Abdulqadir and Ko Seul-ki hit back as El Jaish claimed a third win of the campaign.

But with Al Shabab beating UAE Pro League side Al Jazira 2-1, El Jaish will entertain Al Ahli in two weeks’ time in the first leg of their last 16 tie before travelling to Saudi Arabia a week later.

“In the first half we didn't start very well and as a result we conceded a goal immediately. We had no control over the game during the first 20 minutes. Then the rhythm of the game changed in our favour and we created other chances and scored four goals,” said El Jaish coach Razvan Lucescu.

“The first half was generally balanced, but the second totally belonged to us. We are proud of our performance because we put on a great show and I'm sure the people who watched the game enjoyed it a lot.

“In all games we analyse our opponents and Tractorsazi were no exception, but we kicked off the game very badly and gave a chance to the home side to take an early lead because we were not really focused during the first half.

“During the break I talked to players and asked them to implement my instructions after the break and for sure we made the best out of Tractorsazi's mistakes to take control of proceedings.

“I am very content with the performance of my players and I am proud of their efforts on the pitch.”

With El Jaish needing to beat already-eliminated Tractorsazi to have a chance of topping the group, the visitor’s chances suffered a blow after just three minutes as Geilson raced into the El Jaish penalty area before firing high past goalkeeper Ahmed Sofyan.

El Jaish came close to an equaliser just before half-time as Habib Gordani was forced to clear the ball off the goalline with a last-ditch slide after Magid Mohamad had flicked the ball past Tractorsazi goalkeeper Mehdi Sabeti.

And Mohamad again went close for El Jaish before half-time as the striker rattled the frame of the goal from inside the area with Gordani again beaten.

El Jaish, though, were finally back on level terms at the start of the second half as Mohammad Iranpourian was adjudged to have blocked Abdulqadir’s attempted flick with his hands inside the area and Al Doukali confidently converted the resulting penalty.

And four minutes later El Jaish completed the comeback as Abdulqadir chased down a hopeful long ball over the top of the Tractorsazi defence, and despite the presence of three covering defenders on the edge of the area, the striker was able to direct a downward header into the bottom corner.

But the lead lasted just 14 minutes as Flavio Lopes crossed for Geilson and the Brazilian’s downward header from the edge of the six-yard area gave Sofyan no chance.

El Jaish, though, responded just five minutes later as Abdulqadir picked himself up after being pulled back by Navid Khoshhava as the striker muscled his way into the penalty area to reclaim the lead for the visitors from the spot.

And El Jaish put the result beyond doubt with seven minutes remaining as substitute Mohammed Muntari unselfishly squared the ball for Ko to fire into unguarded net with goalkeeper Sabeti out of position.

“I believe the main problem was a lack of good organisation as we didn't attack well while at the same time we didn't defend well enough,” said Tractorsazi coach Antonio Oliveira.

“We did make a lot of mistakes in the second period and we didn't attack well and didn't defend well either.

“It looked like we hadn't turned up for a win this evening; we literally had nothing to say on the pitch.”