The Lebanese side held on to secure a goalless draw at home on Monday and book a place in the West Zonal Final off the back of a 1-0 away victory over Al Wehdat in the first leg a week earlier.

“I would like to apologise to the fans,” said Marmar. “We have not played to the level they have come to expect from us. We achieved the most important thing which is reaching the [Zonal] final, but we could and should have played better.”

The Lebanese champions had earned a hard-fought victory in Amman a week earlier thanks to Mohammad Kdouh’s strike, and a draw was all they needed on Monday to reach the Zonal Final for the first time in their history.

After a cagey start, Ahmad Zreik thought he had opened the scoring for the hosts halfway through the opening 45 minutes when he cut inside on his left foot and unleashed a powerful drive from 30 yards out that beat goalkeeper Abdallah Al Fakhouri. Luck was on the side of Al Wehdat goalkeeper as the ball bounced off the post and into his arms.

Both sides looked to improve on their most recent AFC Cup campaigns. Al Ahed had been eliminated at the same stage last year whereas Al Wehdat suffered the same fate in 2017 and missed out on the 2018 AFC Cup.

Al Wehdat came racing out of the blocks, and within three minutes, they had their first sight of goal.

The win allowed the Bangladesh club entry into the next round while breaking Minerva Punjab’s streak of five draws in the tournament. With Chennaiyin FC locking horns with Manang Marshyangdi in the other fixture, the match was of key consequence for the fate of Group E. Eventually, defender Saighani’s goal ensured the result of the other match mattered little.

Although Abahani head coach Mario Lemos had said his team would try to stop Minerva Punjab, the Bangladesh side didn’t shy away from attacking from the start.

Leading 1-0 from last week’s first leg, Binh Duong performed admirably throughout Wednesday's return fixture, as Wander Luiz’s fifth goal of the campaign in a 2-1 defeat ultimately helped set up a showdown with domestic rivals Hanoi FC who had beaten Ceres Negros FC a day earlier.

A second-half own goal and an Aaron Evans effort briefly gave Makassar a glimmer of hope, but it counted for nothing in the end as the Continental debutants bowed out following an impressive campaign.

The 27-year-old Van Quyet led by example, providing the assist for Pape Omar Faye's opener before scoring a vital second himself from close range.

Substitute Curt Dizon did pull one back for the visitors with five minutes remaining, but the hosts were able to see out the tie and secure a place in the next round of the tournament for the first time since 2014 when, under the AFC Cup’s previous format, they reached the quarter-finals.

The 1-0 defeat – 4.25’s first in six outings – nevertheless saw the Koreans retain their position at the top of the Group I standings, and they will now line-up alongside the winners of the ASEAN, Central and South in the next stage of the competition having performed superbly throughout the group stage.

The result, meanwhile, left Kitchee to reflect on what could have been after a campaign in which they garnered three wins and a draw en route to finishing five points behind their table-topping opponents.

After a slow start to proceedings at the Mong Kok Stadium, 4.25 fashioned the first genuine opportunity of the match when Pak Myong-song fired a free-kick narrowly wide of the target with 12 minutes on the clock.