South Korean champions Seongnam Chunma stunned Group G rivals Shandong Luneng of China 3-0 at home to advance to the quarter-finals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League on Wednesday.
Seongnam had needed to win by more than one goal in the final preliminary-round match to topple the favoured Chinese team from top spot. They exceeded expectations to join Japanese champions Urawa Reds in the last eight of Asia's premier club competition.
Urawa won Group E by holding Australia's Sydney FC 0-0 in Saitama in front of more than 50,000 delighted supporters. Japan's Kawasaki Frontale, United Arab Emirates side Al Wahda and Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal qualified for the quarter-finals after the fifth round of matches two weeks ago.
Seongnam had trailed Shandong throughout the competition, after losing to them 2-1 in their first match. They went for the kill at the perfect time, with Kim dong-hun and Son Dae-ho giving them a 2-0 lead by half-time and Mota getting the third goal 18 minutes from time.
Seongnam and Shandong finished on 13 points each with the Korean side going through because of a better head-to-head record. The Reds finished their campaign with 10 points, one ahead of the Australians, who had held Urawa to a 2-2 draw in their first match in Sydney. The top teams from each of the seven groups progress to the quarter-finals, where they are joined by defending champions Chonbuk Motors of South Korea.
Two more places remain, with Uzbekistan's Neftchi and Syria's Al Karama facing each other in Group C while, in Group A, Iran's Sepahan take on Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia.
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