Played at a typically raucous Tan Sri Hassan Yunos Stadium, the home side came into the match confident of a result after their impressive finish in their previous encounter in China PR two weeks ago.

And it was the Malaysians who made a bright start, with Azrif Nasrulhaq firing the first effort, but his shot was wide of the mark, as was Diogo’s effort when he tried from the edge of the area five minutes later.

Gyeongnam applied some early pressure and Negueba took advantage of a defensive slip to surge clear before being dispossessed by the Kashima defenders. Choi Jae-soo’s cross from the left then found Kim Hyo-gi but he couldn’t direct his volley on target.

Kim Hyo-gi headed wide from Negueba’s cross as the visitors continued to push for the opening goal.

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.

Shinzo Koroki had the first effort on goal when his low shot went just wide after Ewerton’s dummy had created space.

But it was the home side who took the lead in the 12th minute. Ricardo Lopes stole possession, drove forward and struck a firm, low shot into the far corner from 20 yards.

Played in torrential rain in the Chinese capital, the home side took time to settle into the game and it was the visitors who enjoyed the best early chance but Pedro Junior couldn’t beat Zou Dehai in goal.

It took until 30 minutes into the game for the home side to start to take control and Cedric Bakambu almost gave Beijing a fortuitous lead when Yu Dabao’s header ricocheted off his foot, just evading the far post.

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.