Having lost to the Myanmar champions in their previous Group F encounter two weeks ago, the Vietnamese side knew they had to collect all three points to keep alive their hopes of progressing from the group stage, a feat they haven’t achieved since 2014.

With that in mind the visitors made the perfect start when they took the lead in just the third minute when star midfielder Nguyen Quang Hai squared the ball across the box, allowing Pape Omar Faye a simple tap in at the back post.

The DPR Korea club went as far as the penultimate stage of the tournament last year, and following their 3-0 win away at Chinese Taipei’s Hang Yuan on Matchday One, they recorded a second successive victory against the visiting Hong Kong Premier League champions.

Unheralded Minerva came from nowhere to be crowned I-League champions for the first time in their history in 2017-18 after only gaining promotion to the top flight two seasons earlier.

That success granted them entry into the 2019 AFC Champions League’s qualifying rounds and, although they fell to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Saipa, the Punjab side were then placed into the AFC Cup’s South Zone group.

In what was a clash of Group H’s top two teams, the game handed the winners the chance to open up a three-point lead on the losers and in turn secure the potentially important better head-to-head record.

A handball by Kaya defender Jalsor Soriano opened the door for Makassar in the 14th minute but a well-worked free kick came to nothing as Muhammad Rachmat’s pass into the penalty area narrowly avoided finding Eero Markkanen just a few yards out from goal.

Malkiya came into the match on the back of three unbeaten games, while Qadsia were eyeing their first-ever AFC Cup triumph against Bahraini opponents.

Al Jaish were unbeaten this campaign going into the match while Al Wehdat had not conceded on home soil in the 2019 AFC Cup.

Saeed Al Murjan set up Bahaa Faisal with a through pass and the Jordanian international striker advanced on goal, but fired high from a narrow angle in what was Al Wehdat’s first real chance 16 minutes into the match.

Al Suwaiq came into the match on the back of a nine-match losing run in the AFC Cup that stretches back to May 2012 when they defeated Jordan’s Al Faisaly 3-2. Al Ahed were, meanwhile, unbeaten in the 2019 edition, having collected five points from their first three matches.