Abu Dhabi: Al Jazira recovered from a disastrous first 20 minutes to beat Nasaf Qarshi of Uzbekistan 4-2 in their AFC Champions League opener yesterday.
The travelling UAE champions performed poorly at the start of the match, which was postponed on Tuesday because of bad weather, and were 2-0 down in only 17 minutes following a series of defensive mistakes.
Fozil Musaev needed less than two minutes to put his team in the lead following a bad clearance, and Al Jazira central defender Sami Rabie then added an own goal, diverting a cross from Jahongir Djiyamurodov into his own net.
Ali Khaseef, the UAE international custodian, was in a class of his own and played the biggest role in his team's victory as he effected many brilliant saves.
The defenders made amends for their early lapses, while Juma Abdullah scored the team's first goal in the 38th minute with a header from a Matias Delgado free-kick.
Then Abdullah Moussa levelled the scores in the 67th minute following a beautiful move involving Ebrahim Diaky and Delgado, who set Moussa free to send a fierce shot in the net.
The introduction of striker Bare in the 65th minute made a big difference to the outcome of the match.
Historic win
Bare scored the third nine minuets later from yet another Delgado pass and then created the fourth for his teammate Ricardo Oliveira in the 84th minute.
Their win means Al Jazira become the first UAE club to return victorious from Uzbekistan in the history of the AFC Champions League.
Al Jazira will next host Al Rayyan from Qatar on March 19 at Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium.
The Qatari club lost their opener on Tuesday by a single goal to Estighlal from Iran.
