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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The result leaves the group finely balanced, with just two points separating the teams between second and fourth place.

SIPG’s Zhang Wei had a good early effort saved by Andrew Redmayne as the home side started brightly.

But Sydney worked their way into the match and in the 20th minute, Rhyan Grant’s cross found Adam Le Fondre but the Englishman’s volley went wide.

Siem De Jong’s excellent through ball then found Reza Ghoochannejhad but the angle was tight and Yan Junling came out to smother the shot.

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.