AFC - Vladimir Kozak’s equaliser kept Pakhtakor in contention for a place in the knockout phase of the AFC Champions League on Wednesday when the Uzbek striker earned his side a point with a 1-1 draw against Naft Tehran in Group B.

Gholamreza Rezaei put Ali Reza Mansourian’s side in front after 25 minutes as the group leaders sought to cement their place in the Round of 16, but Kozak’s leveller 11 minutes later denied the Iranians the opportunity to advance.

The draw moves Naft on to eight points from five games while the gap back to Pakhtakor remains two points, with the Uzbek side on six points which ensures they go into the final round of group matches with the opportunity to progress.

After a quiet opening first quarter of the game, Naft took the lead when Rezaei headed home from close range after Alexander Lobanov fumbled Abbas Bouazar’s free kick into this path.

Eleven minutes later, however, Pakhtakor levelled the scores when Kozak put the ball into the back of the net with a rocket of a shot from the edge of the penalty area following a lay off by Igor Sergeev.

Pakhtakor began to take control and, six minutes before the interval, the Uzbek side almost took the lead on the counter attack but Sherzodbek Karimov wasted the chance with a poor effort from inside the box.

The visitors continued to push early in the second half. Naft defender Siamak Kooroshi was forced to clear the ball off the line four minutes after the restart following Stanislav Andreev’s shot while, with 15 minutes to go, Akbarjon Ismatullaev should have done better than send his effort wide.

With five minutes remaining, Pakhtakor were denied another opportunity to take the lead when Alireza Beiranvand tipped Karimov’s free kick over the bar and, with just seconds on the clock, Sergeev could have won the game for the visitors, but his shot was just off target.