New boys Bani Yas scale new heights

Abu Dhabi AFC Champions League debutants Bani Yas added a new chapter to the club's history by reaching the round of 16 thanks to a 2-0 victory over Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor on Wednesay night.

The win ensured the Abu Dhabi club took second place in Group B and qualified for the first knockout round, where they will play a one-off match against Group D winners Al Hilal, from Saudi Arabia, on May 23.

Needing only a point to ensure they beat Pakhtakor to second place, Bani Yas took an early lead through Andre Senghor and substitute Aneer Abdul Rahman made the game safe with the second goal on 71 minutes.

"I am overjoyed that we won the match." Abdul Rahman said after the match. "My goal was a team effort, with Fawzi Basheer and Francisco Yeste playing the bigger role in creating the move. I just applied the final touch.

"There is no time to celebrate. We have to start preparing for our knockout match against Al Hilal, who are one of the best clubs in Saudi Arabia. We are lucky that our coach [Gabriel Calderon] was a former coach of Al Hilal and knows a lot about them. I have confidence and at this stage we will never look back. We want and are determined to go further in the competition."

Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad - the competition winners in 2004 and 2005 - were comfortable winners of Group B. They finished the group stage by beating Qatar's Al Arabi 3-2 after twice coming from behind.

Meanwhile, Ricardo Oliveira scored all four of his team's goals as Al Jazira wrapped up top spot in Group A with a 4-3 victory away to Al Rayyan in Qatar.

The Brazilian is now the competition's top scorer with 10 goals from Al Jazira's six matches. The team will go on to host Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli in the round of 16 on May 22.

Oliveira got his first goal in the eighth minute and netted again in the 33rd, 67th and 88th minutes to give coach Caio Junior a successful return to Qatar, where he worked two years ago with Al Garafa.

Al Jazira lost focus when leading 3-0 and Al Rayyan scored twice, but Oliveira made the game safe before the hosts scored a last-minute consolation.

"Our team relaxed after leading 3-0 and the players made some defensive mistakes," midfielder Subait Khater said after the match. "It is natural when you lead with such a margin to feel safe, but we made amends when Ricardo (Oliveira) scored the fourth goal to put the result beyond the reach of the opponents.

"That was a task well done and we have to start thinking about our next challenge against Al Ahli from Saudi Arabia - if we win, it will lead us to the quarter-finals."