Central & South Asia Wrap: Persepolis lead the way, Navbahor close gap

It’s gearing up for an exciting end to the Uzbekistan season as Navbahor halved their gap with league leaders Pakhtakor while in the Indian Super League, Mohun Bagan Super Giant and FC Goa remained perfect.

There were also matches in Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, so join the-AFC.com as we catch up with the latest domestic action from Central and South Asia.

In Korea Republic, the regular season concluded with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors defeating FC Seoul 2-0 to pip their opponents to a top-half finish, while Kawasaki Frontale and Kashiwa Reysol booked their places in the Emperor's Cup final in Japan.

Only one point separates Borneo FC and Madura United at the top of the table in Indonesia while matches also took place in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Mongolia, so join the-AFC.com as we review the week’s action from ASEAN and East Asia.

The-AFC.com looks back at what some of those involved had to say after their Matchday Two encounters.

Hanoi FC, who are competing in Group J of the AFC Champions League™ 2023/24, will temporarily be handled by Le Duc Tuan.

Japan’s AFC Asian Cup win on home soil in 1992 might have come as a surprise, but on hindsight it proved to be a precursor of a period of superiority whose roots lay in the advent of professionalism in the east Asian nation and a remarkable attention to detail.

Until the early 1990s the Samurai Blue had been a minor player at the AFC Asian Cup but, with the arrival of the J.League in 1993 and the dawn of an era that brought with it rapid development at all levels, Japanese football was on the rise.

The victory took Al Hilal to 23 points, one ahead of Al Taawoun with Al Nassr, Al Ittihad and Al Ahli Saudi a further three adrift after nine matchdays.