Despite conceding the majority of the possession to Daegu, the visitors were able to make the most of their limited opportunities to make it three wins on the bounce and move to the top of Group F with just two games remaining.

After losing their opening match of the campaign to Guangzhou Evergrande, the Japanese side responded well with back-to-back wins, including a 2-0 win over Daegu on Matchday Three.

Hiroshi Jofuku’s side rode their luck early, however, as the home side had the better of the early chances as Cesinha and then Edgar spurned good chances to open the lead for the Korea Republic side.

With their hopes of progressing from Group F all but extinguished after their 4-0 loss to Guangzhou on Matchday Three, Kevin Muscat made eight changes to his starting 11 from their A-League game last Friday.

Travelling more than 7,500 kilometres to make your tournament debut is a clear illustration of the sheer scope and scale of Asian football's most prestigious club competition.

But it was a journey that 21-year-old Yan Dinghao was happy to embark upon, even if the south China side was not able to secure all three points in Australia.

The Englishman equalised after two quickfire SIPG goals had put the Chinese side in front, following Brandon O’Neill’s first-half opener for Sydney. But neither team could find the winner, leaving SIPG two points above the Australian side in Group H.

“We’re disappointed to get the draw and I think we were good value to get the win,” said Le Fondre. “We were pushing all the way and were the team in the ascendancy come the end of the game. We were really disappointed when the full-time whistle went.”

It took just eight minutes for the home side to take the lead as Ulsan conceded for the first time in this year’s tournament. Following a corner, the ball broke to Ryota Oshima at the edge of the Ulsan box.

Oshima played the perfect pass through a crowd of bodies and found Yu Kobayashi, who rifled home from an angle.

But 10 minutes later, Ulsan equalised against the run of play when Sin Jin-ho’s corner from the left dropped for Park Yong-woo to direct home from close range at the far post.

It’s now more than a decade since the teams – who have picked up four AFC Champions League titles between them – first clashed on the Continent and Choi still clearly remembers that first encounter.

After winning the 2006 edition of the competition, Jeonbuk received a bye to the quarter-finals of the 2007 tournament where they were paired with debutants Urawa.