Al Arabi almost gifted Abdysh-Ata an early opener when Youssef Majed’s careless back pass was intercepted by Emmanuel Yaghr whose shot was, however, saved by goalkeeper Sulaiman Abdulghafoor.

Al Arabi then threatened at the other end with Majed threading a through ball to Hamza Khabba, only for Abdysh-Ata’s Marsel Islamkulov to charge off his line and clear the danger.

The Kuwaiti side looked more dangerous on the ball and in the 27th minute, they almost found a way through after Sofiane Bouchar launched a long pass down the right flank to Jomaa Aboud, whose cut-back to Khabba was intercepted by Islamkulov.

Abdysh-Ata played in patches and wasted another opportunity in the 35th minute when Magamed Uzdenov’s deflected free-kick was comfortably collected by Abdulghafoor.

Al Arabi’s best chance came in the 42nd minute when Aboud struck a curling effort from above the box which took a deflection, with Islamkulov pushing the ball onto the right post before gathering the rebound.

Al Arabi went close again in the 56nd minute when Bouchar outmuscled his marker but could only send his headed attempt at the near post over the bar.

However, it was Abdysh-Ata, who took the lead in the 62nd minute after Yaghr teed the ball nicely for Atabaev to strike home from just above the box.

Al Arabi’s woes worsened in the 84th minute when Bouchar was shown a straight red for his foul on Farhat Musabekov.