JEDDAH: Al-Ittifaq reaped the reward for its excellent performance in the AFC Champions League when it qualified for the round of 16 with a 4-0 thrashing of FC Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan 4-0 at Prince Muhammad bin Fahd stadium in Dammam yesterday.

Prince Tagoe scored Ittifaq’s first two goals in the 15th and 37th minutes with Saleh Basheer and Waled Al-Raja each adding one in the scoresheet in the 38th minute and 82nd minute.

The win gave Ittifaq 12 points on top of Group D. FC Bunyodkor is second in the group with seven points.

While Ittifaq was through to the next round the other Saudi club, Al-Ittihad, in action yesterday settled for a temporizing 1-1 draw with Esteghlal Tehran of Iran in a Group C match in Iran.

Ittihad drew first blood in the 80th minute courtesy of Busharwan who drilled home a fine shot from outside of the penalty box.

Just when it looked like the match was ending in favor of Ittihad, Ali Zada managed to score the equalizer by heading in a corner kick.

Ittihad received a favor from Al-Jazirah after the UAE side held Umm Salal of Qatar to a 2-2 draw.

A win would have put Umm Salal at the top of the group. Still it is the only team with a chance to stop Ittihad, with 9 points, in its bid to finish top of the group.

Both Ittihad and Umm Salal are guaranteed to make the next round with only the group No. 1 to be decided when they clash in Jeddah. Ittihad has two options — to draw at any result or win — while Umm Salal’s only choice is to beat Ittihad on May 19.

Meantime, Al-Shabab and Al-Hilal take on Al-Garrafa of Qatar and Saba Battery of Iran today.

In Riyadh, Shabab tries to seal its round of 16 spot from Group B when it hosts Al-Garrafa of Qatar.

Shabab leads the group with 10 points from three wins and one draw. Al-Garrafa is third in the group with six points.

Shabab enters the match riding the momentum of its emphatic 3-0 victory over Hilal in the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup of Champions.

In Group A, Hilal is away to Saba in Iran. Hilal is second in the group with 8 points and Saba third with 2 points.

Hilal is looking to secure the game’s three points hoping that PFC Pakhtakor Tashkent of Uzbekistan would lose the match against Al-Ahli of UAE.

Hilal’s performance against Shabab has raised questions and the Hilal situation was not helped by the sacking of its coach.