The Myanmar side were made to work for the win after a brilliant start from the visitors, but slowly they worked their way back into the game and came away with a deserved win.

The Indonesian side came into the match at the Thuwunna Stadium knowing they needed a win to keep their hopes of progression alive, and they made the best possible start when Ricky Fajrin’s cross was headed home by Ilija Spasojevic in the 11th minute.

Spasojevic then turned provider ten minutes before half-time, flicking on a long goal kick into the path of Nyoman Sukarja, who strode into the box and finished calmly past Sann Satt Naing to give Bali United a two goal lead.

Widodo Putro’s men couldn’t hang on to that advantage until half-time, however, with exciting winger Maung Maung Lwin pulling one back for the home side just before the break.

The visitors, needing a win to keep alive their slim hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds, made a dream start at the Rizal Memorial Stadium when Ryutaro Karube caught the Global Cebu backline out of position with a delightful chip over the defence for Edward Ofere, who made no mistake in putting the Vietnamese side ahead.

Their lead lasted barely three minutes, however, as the home side equalised in spectacular fashion. A speculative ball was played into Spaniard Rufino Sanchez, who controlled the ball with his chest before unleashing a stunning volley that gave Nguyen Thanh Thang no chance.

Thanh Hoa restored their lead midway through the first half after some lovely build up play from Hoang Dinh Tung and Ofere, who set the ball up perfectly for Le Thanh Binh to curl it home from the edge of the area.

The Indonesian side was powered on by a raucous crowd of over 60,000 – the largest ever crowd for an AFC Cup match – and used the energy of the crowd to blitz the visitors in the opening half.

The score-line suggests a comfortable three points for the visitors, but the margins were finer than appears and Abahani needed a little luck to help them on their way.

Despite being a game which on the surface appeared heavily one-sided, only a Fatkhullo Fatkhulloev strike ended up separating the two sides. But for a few inches, Alay striker Amredin Sharifi could well have produced a late goal to level proceedings.

Istiklol's attacking profligacy made a contest of what should have been a comfortable 90 minutes for the hosts.