Al Rayyan drew 1-1 with Sharjah FC in the third round of 2022 AFC Champions League Group A at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on Friday.

Bernard took Sharjah ahead by scoring in the 45th minute and defender Steven Nzonzi put Al Rayyan on level terms in the 65th minute.

Al Rayyan and Sharjah both moved on to four points with one victory, draw and defeat each.

Al Rayyan had beaten Tajikistan’s Istiklol by a 3-2 margin in their opener, but lost 0-3 to reigning champions Al Hilal in the second round.

Sharjah had lost to Al Hilal in their opener, but bounced back to beat Istiklol in the second round.

Both sides will be eager to bounce back when they meet in the reverse fixture on Tuesday, 19th April.

Al Rayyan started the match on the backfoot as Sharjah applied the early pressure with the Emirati side coming close on several occasions in the opening minutes.

Sharjah’s persistence was finally rewarded at the stroke of half-time when Bernard curled in a sublime free-kick from 30 yards out past the Al Rayyan defence with goalkeeper Fahad Younis rooted on his line.

Sharjah continued their wave of attacks, but Al Rayyan clawed their way back past the hour mark when Nzonzi scored off a rebound after Sharjah goalkeeper Adel Alhosani failed to hold on to Yohan Boli’s close-range header off Yacine Brahimi’s corner.