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.

If they are to reach the West Zonal Final for the second year running, Al Jazeera need to overturn a 3-0 disadvantage suffered in the first leg in Bahrain a week ago.

Bienvenido Marañón's header just before the hour mark gave Philippines champions Ceres Negros an early advantage in the first leg in Bacolod, only for Pape Omar Faye to level for the visitors to ensure they took a vital away goal advantage back to Hanoi.

With Ceres having reached the last two ASEAN Zone Finals, will the 2017 zonal champions return to claim their crown or will Hanoi FC become the first Vietnamese side to reach the climax of the ASEAN section of the AFC Cup?

The V.League team will host Ceres Negros in the second leg of the ASEAN Zonal semi-finals on Tuesday holding the slimmest of advantages after Pape Omar Faye's away goal in the 1-1 draw in the Philippines in last week’s first leg.

With 24 goals already to their name, Hanoi are the competition’s top scorers, although to progress to the Zonal final for the first time they must overcome a Ceres team who have appeared in each of the past two ASEAN finals and have won all three of their away games in this year’s AFC Cup.

Binh Duong travel to Indonesia with a slim advantage after Nguyen Tien Linh’s header with 10 minutes to play in the first leg secured a 1-0 victory for the 10-man Vietnamese side.

The win made it five victories in a row for Binh Duong and, unbeaten on the road so far in the competition, should they avoid defeat at Pakansari Stadium they will secure a place in the ASEAN Zonal final.

The Dutch midfielder could not hide his disappointment after the AFC Cup debutants failed to capitalise on their one-man advantage following the 50th minute dismissal of defender Nguyen Trung Tin for two bookable offences.

Indeed, according to Plium, the sending off seemed to galvanise hosts Binh Duong and disrupt the visitors' tempo and flow.

The Lebanese side had stunned their hosts, defending resiliently and snatching a goal in the final quarter of an hour to earn a valuable 1-0 win in Amman on Monday.

Goalkeeper Mehdi Khalil starred as Al Ahed weathered a storm of attacks, and Al Wehdat striker Baha Faisal hit the woodwork, but it was Mohammad Kdouh who settled the match with a header to send his side into the second leg with a crucial lead.