Having lost their past two games, both against Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Daegu had fallen from first to third in the standings and were in desperate need of a win at Forest Arena to reignite their hopes of reaching the Round of 16.

With the score at 2-0 and just 10 minutes to play against already-eliminated Melbourne, Kim received the ball just outside the right side of the penalty area, maneuvered into space and fired a stunning left-footed shot into the far top corner to secure all three points with arguably one of the goals of the tournament so far.

The former Manchester United midfielder headed home from close range three minutes from time to complete an impressive second half performance by Li Xiaopeng’s side, who trailed at the break thanks to Kim Seung-jun’s opener.

But a stunning Hao Junmin free-kick in the 64th minute pulled Shandong level before Fellaini claimed the goal that moves his team on to 11 points and a guaranteed top two finish in the standings.

Edgar, Jeong Tae-wook, Kim Dae-won and Jung Seon-ho were all on target for Daegu and the K League side now trail Sanfrecce Hiroshima – who are guaranteed a place in the last 16 following their win over Guangzhou Evergrande – by three points.

However, the victory moved Daegu ahead of the former Chinese Super League champions by a point going into their crucial clash at Tianhe Stadium in two weeks’ time and a draw will be enough in that contest for the Korean FA Cup holders to advance to the last 16.

Sho Sasaki was credited with the goal that ensured Hiroshi Jofuku’s side would go through to the Round of 16 for only the second time in the club’s history and for the first since 2014 while Guangzhou will have to wait another two weeks to learn their fate.

Fabio Cannavaro’s side are now in third place in Group F, one point behind Daegu FC from Korea Republic, with the two clubs due to face off at Guangzhou’s Tianhe Stadium on May 22 in a game the 2013 and 2015 champions must win to stay alive in this year’s competition.

Having gone three games without a goal in the 2019 AFC Champions League, powerful forward Hulk roared back into form at the perfect moment for Shanghai SIPG with a fine brace to keep their destiny in their hands going into the final Group H tie on May 21.

Defeat to hosts Kawasaki would have seen the Chinese club needing to rely not only on three points from the Matchday Six tie away at group winners Ulsan Hyundai, but also results to go their way in the match between Sydney FC and Kawasaki in Australia.

It was Kim who rolled the deflected pass into Diskerud’s path that allowed the striker to nonchalantly knock his effort past Andrew Redmayne to earn all three points from a tight encounter with the A-League side.

And while Diskerud earned the plaudits, he was left in doubt by his teammate was due some of the credit for his goal.

Kim Shin-wook scored the only goal of a demanding game as Jeonbuk collected all three points to guarantee themselves top spot in Group G with one round of matches remaining in the group phase.

And the fact the K League leaders were able to come out of the game unscathed encouraged the Portuguese coach, despite seeing his side miss a number of chances to put the result beyond doubt.