Al Gharafa climbed into the qualification slots for the knockout rounds of the AFC Champions League Elite on Tuesday as Pedro Martins’ side handed Pakhtakor a 1-0 defeat in Doha that also confirmed Al Shorta’s elimination from the competition.
The Qatar Stars League side moved onto seven points from seven games after Ferjani Sassi’s 39th minute goal earned his club their second win of the campaign while Pakhtakor’s chances suffered a significant blow.
The club from Uzbekistan remain on four points with one round remaining, when Pakhtakor will face Al Sadd from Qatar in Tashkent on February 17.
The result means Iraq’s Al Shorta, who drew 1-1 with Esteghlal on Monday to sit on three points, join defending champions Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in being unable to advance to the next phase of the competition.
Pakhtakor’s scoring struggles in the competition continued despite the arrival of new coach Pedro Moreira, with the Uzbeks unable to add to the two goals they had claimed in the previous six matches.
The home side, in contrast, made moves to open the scoring from the first whistle, Joselu lofting an attempt over the crossbar inside the first 50 seconds while Nani’s fourth minute header from a Yacine Brahimi corner also cleared the Pakhtakor goal.
Pakhtakor were playing in their first game of the new season and the side from Tashkent were slow to find their rhythm with Brahimi, in particular, causing problems.
The 34-year-old winger was denied by Jhonatan Luiz in the 25th minute, the goalkeeper pushing away a shot across goal and, a little over six minutes remaining in the half, the Algeria international unlocked the visiting defence.
Brahimi drove through the heart of the Pakhtakor defence to pick up a return pass from Joselu on the edge of the penalty area, feeding Sassi on his right and he slid his strike past Luiz via the inside of the goalkeeper’s left post.
Al Gharafa looked to have doubled their lead in the 64th minute when Brahimi again forced Pakhtakor onto the back foot, his pass releasing Ahmed Al Ganehi and a deflected cross was nodded in by Joselu. But VAR ruled the goal out on review.
Moreira introduced Ulugbek Khoshimov with 10 minutes remaining but the former Neftchi striker, like his team mates before him, was unable to find a way through and Al Gharafa comfortably held on to take the points.
Gharafa coach Pedro Martins stated that his team played two different halves against Pakhtakor.
“In the first half, we controlled the game, creating many scoring opportunities. However, we didn’t capitalise on those chances, scoring only one goal. As a result, the score did not fully reflect the team’s performance,” he said.
Martins said that in the second half, while there were fewer opportunities, his team remained well-organised defensively.
Martins congratulated the players for their great effort and for following the instructions and plan laid out for them. Martins said the chances of qualifying for the round of last 16 remain open, with many teams still in the competition.

Al Gharafa’s Ferjani Sassi (right) and Pakhtakor’s Jonatan Lucca vie for the ball during the AFC Champions League Elite match at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in Doha on Tuesday. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil