Boosted by their home crowd, Al Taawoun started the stronger side with their steady build-up and possession putting Tractor on the defensive.

The Saudi Arabia’s side attempts at finishing, however, failed to come to fruition, with Musa Barrow’s tame shot from the edge of the 18-yard box after a darting run by Roger Martinez in the 16th minute easily saved by keeper Alireza Beiranvand.

Tractor’s first look at goal came in the 19th minute when an unmarked Tomislav Strkalj saw his shot from the centre of the box punched out by keeper Abdulquddus Atiiay.The rebound dropped kindly for Mehdi Torabi, but the forward was deemed offside.

Barrow had another try in the 30th minute off a pass by Martinez but his attempt was almost a replica of his first and promptly dealt with by Beiranvand.

A start-and-stop first half came to a close with Al Taawoun disallowed a penalty by VAR in the final seconds after Barrow was tripped by Beiranvand and with the hosts having only three shots on target compared to Tractor’s one.

It was Tractor, however, who were awarded a penalty two minutes into the second half after a VAR review when the ball struck the left arm of Renné Rivas. Ricardo Alves sent keeper Atiiay the wrong way and the visitors were suddenly in control.

Al Taawoun fought back and drew level in the 54th minute when Barrow wrong-footed a defender and sent a cracker of a shot from outside the box which curled past a diving Beiranvand

Buoyed by the goal, the hosts kept the pressure on but were let down by poor finishing from Barrow and Abdelhamid Sabiri and Tractor’s packed defence, forcing the match into extra time.

Al Taawoun’s Sultan Mandash, who had come on 10 minutes before the end of regulation tie, scored right at the start of extra time when he latched onto a free-kick from Aschraf El Mahdioui, went past the keeper and slammed the ball into the back of the net.

The visitors equalled the score in the 105th minute via Domagoj Drozdek, who headed in from close range off a pass by Danial Esmaeilifar.

The ensuing penalty shoot-out had Tractor’s Mehdi Shiri ballooning his shot and teammate Sajjad Ashouri seeing his attempt saved by Atiiay. Al Taawoun converted all their chances to continue their bid for the title.