Ahead of the Matchday Five fixtures, 10 of the sides remain in the hunt for top-two finishes and the chance of reaching the competition’s knockout stages.

It may have taken 16 matches over two campaigns in both the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup but, finally, Ceres midfielder Ott scored his maiden Asian club competition goal.

And he could not have chosen a more dramatic time or occasion to get this name on the scoresheet.

What was to be an epic match opened in appropriately exciting fashion with chances at either end in the first 10 minutes.

First Novri Setiwan’s angled effort from inside the area after three minutes was kept out, before Ceres midfielder Kevin Ingreso saw his own close-range attempt denied by a smart save from Andritany Ardhiyasa.

With Oman's Al Suwaiq the only side to have officially been eliminated from the competition, we will be a step closer to finding out which four West Asian sides reach the knock-out stages by the end of the six Matchday Five fixtures across Groups A, B and C on Monday and Tuesday.

It’s been a slow start to their AFC Cup campaign for last year’s ASEAN Zone champions, Home United, with just one win from their first three matches.

One mitigating factor has been the prolonged absence of key man Song, one of the standout players in last year’s competition and a player who contributed five goals in the group stage in 2018, finishing with nine goals overall.

But having recovered from a groin complaint that saw him miss the first three matches of this year’s campaign, Song returned for Home United on Wednesday and made an immediate impact for The Protectors.

After taking an early lead, the Vietnamese side quickly fell behind but showed all their class and quality with a stirring comeback to keep within striking distance of Tampines Rovers, who sit three points clear at the top of Group F.