Jake Brimmer's successfully converted penalty on eight minutes and a fine lobbed finish from Ben Folami just before the half hour mark looked to be the perfect opening for the A-League side following back-to-back defeats to Beijing FC in Doha.

But after the interval it was Chiangrai who came back the stronger with goals from Sivakorn Tiatrakul and Gionata Verzura ensuring a share of the spoils.

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.

Letting slip a two goal advantage to end up with a point might have most team captains reflect on a tie with disappointment, but Perth icon Castro was in an upbeat mood following the six-goal thriller in Group F.

The reason for the 38-year-old's positivity? The performance of the young tyros in the team, some of whom were not even born when the Spaniard was making his professional debut in his homeland.

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.

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.

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.