The home side was made to work for their win against a plucky Cerezo Osaka side that needed to win to seal their own progression to the Round of 16.

The Round of 16 stage promises to be a thrilling affair with several former AFC Champions League winners taking their place alongside teams who will be aiming to win the coveted title for the first time.

With the top three teams in Group G – Guangzhou Evergrande, Cerezo Osaka and Buriram United – all still in with a chance of progressing heading into the final matches, the home side knew a win would guarantee their progression and they raced out of the blocks in search for an early goal, with Nemanja Gudelj coming close in just the second minute.

Their high-octane start was rewarded in the sixth minute when Huang Bowen fired in the opener to the delight of the packed stands at the Tianhe Stadium.

Fabio Cannavaro’s side couldn’t hang on to their lead for long, however, and just three minutes later the raucous home crowd was silenced when Takaki Fukumitsu broke the offside trap and rounded Zeng Cheng to make it 1-1.

Undeterred Guangzhou Evergrande continued to attack and almost regained their lead, but were denied by some heroic defending, with Kakeru Funaki blocking Zheng Long’s goal-bound effort after 25 minutes.

The victory confirmed that the Korean side would finish bottom of the group, while Buriram edged ahead of Cerezo Osaka and behind Guangzhou Evergrande.

Supachai Jaided had the first good effort for Buriram when he forced Kim Kyeong-min to push wide a powerful angled shot in the 13th minute.

Jeju then came within inches of taking the lead in the 21st minute when Magno Cruz beat the offside trap before his chip over Siwarak Tedsungnoen struck the post.

Buriram came agonisingly close in the 30th minute when Jakkaphan Kaewprom crashed in a shot that beat the goalkeeper but was headed off the line by Cho Yong-hyung.

The Montenegrin's fifth goal of the 2018 campaign saw Suwon leapfrog the Japanese side, who qualify for the Round of 16 in second spot.

Suwon had the first chance when a slip from Yuto Misao let in Waguininho in the eighth minute. But the Brazilian took too long setting up the shot and Misao recovered to block.

Waguininho then had another decent opportunity in the 23rd minute but miscued his header from a good position.

Kashima then had their own miscue as Yuma Suzuki failed to make clean contact with a volley from the edge of the box.

Atsutaka Nakamura’s foul on Yeom Ki-hun on the edge of the Kashima area presented Suwon with an excellent chance in the 31st minute. And Waguininho’s low free kick from 20 yards was diverted into the net by Damjanovic to give the visitors the lead.

The Koreans almost added a second just before half-time when Damjanovic released Waguininho. The Brazilian’s powerful left-footed shot was well saved by Kwoun Sun-tae.

The Sky Blues came into the match knowing their fate in the competition was out of their hands, needing to win and then hope Suwon Samsung Bluewings didn’t beat Kashima Antlers in the other Group H encounter in Japan.

The home side flew out of the blocks looking for the goal they needed to ease the nerves around the Sydney Football Stadium, and they should’ve found it when Adrian Mierzejewski played a delightful through ball for Bobo, releasing the Brazilian striker one-on-one with Qiu Shengjiong, but the Shanghai custodian produced a fine save to put the ball out for a corner.