The visitors were in control of the match throughout the 90 minutes and scored four goals in a game for the third time this campaign as they made it four wins from six in one of the competition's most hard-fought groups.

The Indonesian side arrived in Singapore sitting top of Group H ahead of Vietnam’s Song Lam Nghe An on head-to-head, and knew a win would secure their passage to the knockout rounds.

They were spurred on by a vocal contingent of fans who had travelled from Indonesia for the clash and they were celebrating after 20 minutes when Riko cleverly created space for himself on the right, crossing the ball into the box where Rezaldi Hehanusa controlled the ball and fired home the opener.

The home side hit right back, however, with Jordan Webb heading home from a corner less than five minutes later.

Tampines Rovers did well to deny the space that Persija Jakarta like to exploit down the flanks, but they were caught napping on the stroke of half-time when the 26-year-old got in behind, running to the by-line before cutting the ball back for Marko Simic to tap home.

The Malaysian side, winners of the tournament in 2015, knew they needed to win by at least three goals to overturn the two-goal deficit in their head-to-head record with the Vietnamese side and at least finish second in Group H to give themselves a chance of going through as the best runners-up.

That looked like it was on the cards after a blistering opening to the match from the home side, dominating the exchanges before finally taking the lead after 36 minutes when Safawi Rasid blasted home from the edge of the area.

Their lead was doubled just minutes later when Syafiq Ahmad rose to head home La’vere Corbin-Ong’s cross as JDT looked headed for a comfortable victory.

The Filipino side knew just a draw at home would be enough to secure their spot in the knockout rounds, but they weren’t content with just sitting back for the point they needed.

Instead they dominated the proceedings in the first half, with the visitors pushed back deep to defend, but couldn’t find the key to unlock the Home United defence, with stars Stephan Schrock and Bienvenido Marañon guilty of wasting chances to give Risto Vidakovic’s side the lead.

That trend continued in the second half, with Marañon in particular proving to be incredibly wasteful in front of goal, while Rudy Khairullah also stood tall with a number of decisive saves.

It took just 11 minutes for the visitors to take the lead at Thuwunna Stadium, as Maicon beat the offside trap to meet a Samuel Ajayi pass and slot home, and Julius Oiboh doubled Boeung Ket’s advantage in the 25th minute, dribbling in from the left and leaving Htike Htike Aung in his wake before tucking beyond goalkeeper Myo Min Latt.

Ajayi made it 3-0 in the 47th minute, and things went from bad to worse for Shan United two minutes later as Phyo Paing Soe was sent off after a foul on Ajayi as the last man.

With top spot in the group already secured, the visitors were looking to finish the group stage with another victory and they made the perfect start when Guinean striker Sekou Sylla put them ahead in just the second minute.

That lead lasted barely 10 minutes with Trinh Dinh Hung producing a wonderful overlapping run before whipping in a pinpoint cross for Pape Omay Faye whose header was too powerful for Tran Buu Ngoc.

Sylla secured his brace after just 20 minutes when he controlled Maung Maung Lwin’s pass, turning into the area and firing a shot past Tran, who could do little to keep the powerful shot out despite getting a hand to it.

The Spaniard got the away side off to the perfect start after two minutes at the Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium, firing home a header into the bottom right hand corner from close range that gave Bali United goalkeeper Dicky Indrayana no chance.

After 33 minutes, Global doubled their lead through a Paul Mulders wonder strike. The Filipino national intercepted the ball in central midfield and unleashed a stinging strike from well outside the box that landed in the bottom corner of the goal to silence the healthy home crowd. 

A first half of Global dominance was capped off through Rufo Sánchez once more, who made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time, leaving Bali United with it all to do going into the second 45.