The home crowd erupted as Esteghlal finally broke the deadlock eight minutes after the restart. The Al Duhail defence failed to deal with a Patosi cross from the right and defender Roozbeh Cheshmi pounced on the loose ball to fire home from close range. The hosts’ joy was short-lived as Al Duhail fired back instantly after resumption of play. Ali Afif exchanged passes with Almoez Ali down the left flank before crossing for El Arabi. Hosseini was first to the ball, but his clearance only went as far as Edmilson and the Brazilian converted the second ball into the back of the net to bring the game back to square one.     South African midfielder Ayanda Patosi beat Al Duhail goalkeeper Amine Lecomte with a curled free-kick from 30 yards out. Esteghlal were, however, denied the opener as Patosi’s ball struck the upright. Al Duhail responded from a similar set-piece through Bassam Al Rawi, but the Qatari international’s strike passed narrowly wide of the post.