In the battle of the two-time champions, the hosts’ victory was no more than they deserved and Tsuyoshi Otsuki’s team will travel to Guangzhou’s Tianhe Stadium in three weeks’ time in a strong position.

It has been a tough time to be both a Urawa Reds player and supporter of late. A torrid run of form in their domestic championship has seen the Saitama side drop to the lower echelons of the league, go 10 matches without a win in all compeitions, get knocked out of the Emperor's Cup by a fourth tier side, and fail to keep a cleansheet since June 6.

And yet in the 2019 AFC Champions League, the two-time Asian champions continue to defy form and expectations alike.

A run to their fourth semi-final at the expense of high-flyers Ulsan Hyundai and Shanghai SIPG was followed up at Saitama Stadium with another impressive performance as they defeated the Chinese Super League leaders Guangzhou 2-0 to take a firm hold on the tie.

Goals from Fabricio and Takahiro Sekine earned Urawa a first leg advantage in the semi-final over the Chinese Super League leaders, but Otsuki maintained an air of caution with the second leg at Guangzhou’s Tianhe Stadium still to be played later this month.

The defeat extended Guangzhou’s winless run to six straight games in all competitions and means Cannavaro’s side will need to mount a major comeback in the second leg at Tianhe Stadium on October 23 if they are to progress to the final and keep alive their hopes of a record third AFC Champions League crown.

Fabricio put Urawa ahead 19 minutes into the game and Sekine doubled his side’s lead in the 75th minute to give Tsuyoshi Otsuki’s team a significant advantage ahead of the second leg at Guangzhou’s Tianhe Stadium on October 23.

Both clubs are looking to secure a record third AFC Champions League title and will face the winners of the meeting between Qatar’s Al Sadd and Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia, with the club from Riyadh holding a 4-1 lead in that tie following their victory on Tuesday.

The Qatari champions surrendered an early lead to concede twice in each half, suffering their first home defeat of the campaign and leaving them in need of a four-goal winning margin if they are to better last year’s semi-final exit.

The night started brightly for the hosts as they dominated the early proceedings and struck first 14 minutes into the game, but a defensive mistake allowed Al Hilal a way back into the match and Al Sadd capitulated after being reduced to 10 men, allowing their visitors to reign.

Al Hilal found themselves behind after 15 minutes when Bafétimbi Gomis scored an own goal, but the French forward subsequently netted a goal in each half to help his side record a comfortable victory against an Al Sadd outfit who had Abdulkarim Hassan sent off in the first half.