Igor Golban's second-half header was the difference as Uzbekistan's Nasaf beat Al Wasl of the UAE 1-0 in their 2018 AFC Champions League Group C encounter on Tuesday.
Nasaf were the brighter of the two sides in the first half but despite keeping Al Wasl goalkeeper Sultan Al Mantheri busy, the hosts were unable to open the scoring until the break.
Already without the injured club captain Fabio de Lima, Al Wasl were handed another blow when fellow Brazilian Caio Canedo was stretched off in the 24th minute, leaving the Emiratis thin in attack.
In the 57th minute, the home side broke the deadlock through centre-back Golban, who powered in a header from Slavko Lukic's corner. Nasaf went close to doubling their lead 10 minutes later, but Islom Rashidkhanov's shot crashed off the crossbar and was cleared to safety.
Nasaf thus registered their first three points of the campaign while Al Wasl stayed at the bottom of Group C after a second successive defeat.
Next up for Nasaf is a home clash with Qatar's Al Sadd on Matchday Three, which will also see Al Wasl travel to Tehran to face Persepolis.
