The Lebanese side had stunned their hosts, defending resiliently and snatching a goal in the final quarter of an hour to earn a valuable 1-0 win in Amman on Monday.

Goalkeeper Mehdi Khalil starred as Al Ahed weathered a storm of attacks, and Al Wehdat striker Baha Faisal hit the woodwork, but it was Mohammad Kdouh who settled the match with a header to send his side into the second leg with a crucial lead.

Both sides looked to improve on their most recent AFC Cup campaigns. Al Ahed had been eliminated at the same stage last year whereas Al Wehdat suffered the same fate in 2017 and missed out on the 2018 AFC Cup.

Al Wehdat came racing out of the blocks, and within three minutes, they had their first sight of goal.

Al Jazeera were hopeful of taking home a result that could help them reach the West Zonal final for the second time running, but they faced the challenge of an Al Jaish side that had not lost in their last eight AFC Cup games.

The Jordanians started brightly and were in complete control for the first 25 minutes, threatening first through Abdullah Al Attar’s header which narrowly missed the target, then through Omar Al Manasrah’s long range strike.

Risto Vidakovic’s side took the lead through Bienvenido Marańon just before the hour mark, but the visitors returned fire through Senegalese forward Pape Omar Faye to earn a share of the spoils and a potentially vital away goal at Panaad Stadium.

The two sides will meet again at Hanoi’s Hang Day Stadium next Tuesday, with the winners to advance to the ASEAN Zonal final.

The team looked all set to register their first victory thanks to Samuel Lalmuanpuia's 62nd minute goal at the Indira Gandhi Stadium but were denied by a 90th minute goal by Mohd. Rafi.

It was a result which kept Minerva Punjab in third place, and with no chance of overtaking Group E leaders Abahani Limited Dhaka who are on 10 points.

Goals from 2019 AFC Cup leading scorer Bienvenido Marañón of Ceres and Hanoi FC's Pape Omar Faye meant the spoils were shared in the ASEAN Zonal Semi-final first leg tie at Panaad Stadium.

And, while Porteria did praise the effort from his team, Ceres would have been disappointed not to have capitalised on more of their chances, with the away goal meaning the Vietnamese club have a slim advantage.

The Pyongyang side made it five wins in a row and will be a force to be reckoned with in the Inter-Zone semi-finals, having fallen to Altyn Asyr in the 2018 final.

It was Hang Yuan's fifth consecutive defeat and the Chinese Taipei club will be looking to earn their first point when they play Tai Po on Matchday Six.