The Syrian team needed a win to retain the faintest of hopes of qualifying to the next stage, having only collected one point from their first four fixtures. Kuwait SC, meanwhile, were in a better position with seven points seeing them sit second going into Matchday Five.

Kuwait SC’s first big chance of the match carried the signature of Abdullah Al Buraiki whose free-kick 10 minutes into the game was tipped over by goalkeeper Muhanad Al Khiari.

Yazan Al Arab came close to opening the scoring for Al Jazeera early on. The defender rose highest to head home the out-swinging cross from the corner-kick, only for goalkeeper Ahmed Rasool to tip it behind with a fine reflex save.

Rasool was put to the test again after Ahmed Abdulla’s headed clearance landed at the feet of Noor Al Rawabdeh and the Jordanian international aimed for the top corner. The Al Najma goalkeeper produced a quality save to keep the ball out.

It was the third draw in a row for 2018 AFC Cup runners-up Altyn Asyr, who had to hold firm in the second half, having had the better of the first 45 minutes.

The visitors made a bright start and Kervens Belfort flashed a header wide from Rubel Miya’s corner in the second minute.

It took until the 21st minute for the home side to pose a real threat to Abahani as Mailson’s powerful header brought a fine save from Shahidul Alam.

The visitors stunned the home crowd by opening the scoring after just three minutes. Son Phyong-il made a surging run down the left and his cross was perfect for Kim Yu-song to attack and head home.

It was almost 2-0 four minutes later but Rim Chol-min couldn’t find the target with a header from Ri Hyong-jin’s cross.

Home’s Abdil Qaiyyim had the first chance of the game at the Pakansari Stadium in the eighth minute, flicking just wide off the near post from inside the six-yard box after an Izzdin Shafiq corner.

Guy Junior then fired Makassar’s first warning shot, slamming just off target in the 11th minute, before Muhammad Arfan curled another low effort just wide for the hosts one minute later.

Kaya needed all three points to maintain a realistic chance of progressing to the knockout round, and they started the brighter of the two sides in this clash at Pana-ad Park and Football Stadium, sending a couple of sighters off target inside the opening 10 minutes.

Lao failed to pay heed to those warnings, and after Jordan Mintah cut inside Ketsada Souksavanh in the 11th minute and broke into the penalty area there was only going to be one outcome, with the Ghanaian poking beyond goalkeeper Outthilath Nammakhoth to make it 1-0.