With Ceres Negros having already sealed top spot in the group, Binh Duong must now aim for a best runners-up spot. Meanwhile, Persija’s chances of progress in the tournament were ended as they slumped to a third successive defeat.

Victor Mansaray’s direct run had the Persija defence backpedaling in the eighth minute but the American’s shot from 18 yards was straight at Andritany Ardhiyasa.

Riding high from their thumping 5-2 win over Yangon United in their previous match, the visitors took time to settle and it was the home side who had the first real opportunity of the game as Anderson Zogbe failed to direct his effort on target from Khim Borey’s corner.

Hanoi came into the game as the half went on and star striker Pape Omar Faye had two chances to open the scoring, but saw one effort deflected while he had an air swing on the other.

Holding a five point lead coming into the match, the Filipino side knew a win would guarantee top spot in the group, and given the Myanmar side had yet to register a point in this year’s competition, Risto Vidakovic’s side had reason to be confident.

They showed that confidence early on as they immediately took control of the game, with Mike Ott having a good chance after 13 minutes that was deflected out for a corner.

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.

The Jordanian side had collected just one point from their last two fixtures, losing to Al Jaish in Bahrain and drawing them in Amman, while Nejmeh had lost their two previous games in the group.

The visitors wasted no time in taking the lead. Baha Faisal’s fifth goal of the campaign gave Al Wehdat an early advantage. The striker lost his marker inside the box and powered in a header from Ahmad Elias’ corner-kick five minutes into the game.

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.

The two sides had also shared the spoils in their previous encounter on the opening matchday when Mohammad Obaid scored for Hilal Al Quds and Ahmad Ashkar equalised for Al Jaish.

A second consecutive draw sees Al Jaish drop to second place in the group with nine points, as Al Wehdat moved to the top spot following their 2-0 win over Nejmeh SC. Hilal Al Quds are in third place ahead of facing Nejmeh in a rescheduled fixture on Friday.