Having not seen any competitive action since winning the A-League Grand Final at the end of August, the New South Wales side got off to the perfect start when Trent Buhagiar opened the scoring inside 10 minutes as they went into the interval a goal to the good.

But Shanghai fought back in the second half as a Li Shenglong brace ultimately secured the Chinese Super League side a 2-1 win, with Grant also having to play in goal for the final few minutes after Thomas Heward-Belle was dismissed for handling outside the box.

Goals from Fernando and A Lan paved the way for Beijing’s victory, before Seoul captain Park Chu-young pulled a goal back from the penalty spot with 25 minutes remaining.

The result, coupled with Beijing’s 1-0 victory over Chiangrai United back in February, puts Bruno Génésio’s side three points clear of Seoul on top of Group E, in which all four teams have now played twice.

The midfielder celebrated his first appearance in the competition in eight years with a first-half brace, before Kim Kee-hee added a third as Kim Do-hoon’s side turned domestic disappointment into Doha delight two weeks after losing the Korean FA Cup Final.

Zhu Jianrong scored a late consolation goal for Shenhua, who drop to third in the Group F standings on three points, one behind joint leaders Ulsan and FC Tokyo.

The two time AFC Champions League winners have not played any of their games in the group yet with the COVID-19 outbreak postponing their fixtures from February onwards, but the condensed schedule seems a little easier now with Malaysian side Johor Darul Ta’zim having withdrawn earlier.

The two tacticians are long-time friends, having both worked at FC Porto around the turn of the century.

They have since both gone on to win league titles in Asia, with Perreira guiding Shanghai SIPG to their first-ever Chinese Super League title and Morais lifting back-to-back K League 1 titles with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

Tell us in the polls below whether your favourite team will advance to the next round of the Qualifiers as Asia looks to build on the record five teams at the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018.

There is still much to do on the Road to Qatar 2022 in the second round of the Asian Qualifiers and the remaining matchdays will determine the 12 teams who will advance to the third round of the Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which will also confirm their tickets to the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

Tell us in the polls below whether your favourite team will advance to the next round of the Qualifiers as Asia looks to build on the record five teams at the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018.

There is still much to do on the Road to Qatar 2022 in the second round of the Asian Qualifiers and the remaining matchdays will determine the 12 teams who will advance to the third round of the Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which will also confirm their tickets to the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.