Al-Ittihad's meeting with Iran's Sepahan in group C was called off as players from the Saudi club refused to leave their dressing room due to a statue of assassinated Iranian general Qasem Soleimani being placed at the entrance to the pitch.

The Asian Football Confederation said the game, which was due to be played in Isfahan's Naghsh-e Jahan Stadium, had been "cancelled due to unanticipated and unforeseen circumstances".

Also in group C, Air Force Club beat AGMK 2-1 after Ali Jasim scored his third goal in two Asian Champions League games to give the Iraqis a second-minute lead over the Uzbekistan team with Sanzhar Tursunov's own goal doubling the visitors' lead.

Siavash Haghnazari pulled one back for AGMK with nine minutes to go but Air Force Club held on to win and reach four points, one ahead of Al-Ittihad.

In group B, Uzbekistan's Nasaf climbed into pole position after claiming their second win in a row when Azizbek Amonov struck twice in a 3-1 win over Al Sadd of Qatar.

Ruzikul Berdiev's team hold a two-point lead over Sharjah from the United Arab Emirates, who beat Jordan's Al-Faisaly thanks to a 20th minute goal from Moussa Marega, an Asian Champions League winner with Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal in 2021.

The 10 group winners advance to the last 16 along with the three second-placed teams with the best records in the western and eastern halves of the competition.