Abu Dhabi: Hosts Al Ain did everything but score in their own backyards Tuesday. They squandered several scoring opportunities to split points with Uzbek Club Lokomotiv Tashkent after playing out a goalless draw in the AFC Champions League quarter-final opener at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium here.

Al Ain will now be travelling to play their crucial return leg to keep their semi-final hopes alive on September 13.

All eyes were on Al Ain’s 22-year-old Caio, from the land of Samba. The youngster did show that he has all that renowned Brazilian magic in his feet but those decisive touches were missing. In his 83-minute stay, one could sense that he will still need some more time to settle into the scheme of things.

Caio’s deft touches, coupled with the brilliance of midfielder Omar Abdul Rahman and the pace of Colombia winger Danilo Asprilla, took the wind out of the sails of Lokomotiv straight away despite the visitors starting off aggressively.

A lot of credit should also go to coach Zlatko Dalic, who had just 10 days to work with his full team, as the side worked like a well-lubricated machine. It was a 7.30pm start but still the conditions were energy sapping as the temperature refused to go below the 43 degree mark. Understandably, the home team, being more suited to such adversities, dominated the proceedings.

In the eighth minute, Korean recruit Lee Myung-joo set Brazilian Douglas with a measured through sailed over the framework.

Then Asprilla showed tremendous ball skills to set in a pinpoint cross but Ciao, despite diving full stretch forward, failed to connect. Then minutes later, a free-kick from Omar Abdul Rahman was goal bound but Lokomotiv goalkeeper Ignatiy Nestrov did well to get in the ball’s path.

In the 27th minute, against the run of play, Shaakhmedov Sanjar sent in a 40-yard-long ranger but an alert Khalid Eisa did well to tip it over.

Missed chances

Despite a dominant show, Al Ain were forced to go into the breather without disturbing the scorers. They kept the pressure on after the switchover but somehow were kept at bay by the Uzbek Club’s resilient defence.

In the 59th minute, Omar Abdul Rahman again showed his class to find Douglas upfront but the latter, who was far from his self on the night, couldn’t find the unmarked Caio lurking inside the box. Though an overlapping Mohnad Ahmad Gharib managed to get hold of that poor release from Douglas, his shot went wide.

And when Asprilla missed an open scoring opportunity in the 80th minute, when he had the lone rival goalkeeper to beat, it was clear that it was not going to be Al Ain’s day.

The visitors then soaked in all the pressure towards the end to walk away with a hard-fought draw.