The A-League champions brushed off the disappointment of early group stage elimination to deliver their biggest ever win in Asia’s premier competition, with Trent Buhagiar bagging a brace to follow earlier goals from Alex Wilkinson and Luke Brattan.

Frustrated by a pair of narrow defeats in their previous outings, the A-League champions finally clicked in front of goal, with Alex Wilkson and Luke Brattan scoring before half-time before Trent Buhagiar added two of his own after the interval for Sydney's biggest ever AFC Champions League win..

Despite their defeat, Shanghai SIPG’s place in the knockout stage was confirmed with a game to spare early in the afternoon thanks to Yokohama F. Marinos’ 4-1 win over Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

Yokohama reached the knockout stage for the first time in club history with the win, as goals from Theerathon Bunmathan, Marcos Junior and Terhuito Nakagawa, plus a Song Bum-keun own goal, rounded out a banner day for the 2019 J League champions.

After a quiet first half, Suwon Samsung finally got off the mark in the competition through Lim Sang-heyob’s tap-in on the rebound from Lee Ki-je’s free-kick. Wei Shihao equalised for Guangzhou Evergrande in the 72nd minute, but they were reduced to 10 men just two minutes later as Zhon Yihao was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

The draw meant Suwon Samsung Bluewings need to beat runaway group leaders Vissel Kobe with two goals if they are to snatch the second place in the group, currently occupied by Guangzhou Evergrande who have already completed their group stage fixtures.

Knowing a win over the already-eliminated Australians would significantly boost their chances of securing a place in the Round of 16, Shenhua fell two goals behind, then scored three of their own in 11 minutes to take the lead in the Group F tie before a late penalty from Neil Kilkenny earned Perth their first point of the tournament.

Shenhua are now level on points with second-placed FC Tokyo and no closer to learning their Round of 16 stage fate, with Thursday’s simultaneous Matchday Six clashes to settle once and for all which team will join group winners Ulsan Hyundai in the next round.

A second-half revival saw Chiangrai United claw back Melbourne Victory’s two-goal lead as Siwakorn Tiatrakul’s free-kick and Gionata Verzura’s tidy finish cancelled out Jake Brimmer’s spot-kick and Ben Folami’s lob for the Australians.

Despite a late avalanche of attacks, the AFC Champions League debutants could not find a winner to sustain their challenge for a Round of 16 berth and had to make do with a 2-2 draw to reach four points.

Goals from Jonathan Viera, Renato Augusto and Zhang Yuning were only replied by Yun Ju-tae’s late strike as the two sides played out an exciting match with plenty of chances at both ends.