With the championship going down to the final day of the season, Beijing Guoan needed to defeat Shandong Luneng at home and hope that Cannavaro's side lost to visiting Shanghai Shenhua.

Guoan triumphed 3-2 thanks to a stoppage time goal but Evergrande were comfortable 3-0 winners over struggling Shenhua.

Winger Wei Shihao made it 1-0 for Guangzhou moments before the break when he stabbed in from close range.

Chaired by the AFC President, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the Executive Committee agreed that the hosts for the future AFC Asian Cups should be given more preparation time in the future – with the 2027 hosts being appointed as soon as possible.

The AFC President said: “At the AFC 29th Congress in Paris, we chose the People’s Republic of China as the next hosts of the AFC Asian Cup in 2023. And I know that China PR will deliver a world class event – in keeping with the stature of the AFC Asian Cup.

Thailand saw off Singapore 3-0 to keep their hopes alive while Laos defeated Brunei Darussalam 3-0 to register their first win of the tournament.

Elsewhere, Guangzhou Evergrande defeated Shanghai SIPG to take a giant step towards the Chinese Super League title and Yokohama F. Marinos moved top of the J.League after a dramatic weekend in Japan.

There was also a full set of fixtures in Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei and Guam, so join the-AFC.com as we review all the action in what was a busy few days in East Asia.

Elsewhere, Indonesia’s runaway league leaders Bali United have now gone five games without a win following defeat to PSM Makassar, but the cluster of teams beneath them yet again failed to take advantage of their dropped points. 

With the only action in ASEAN coming in the Australian and Indonesian domestic competitions, here’s the-AFC.com’s review of the latest round of fixtures in the A-League and Liga 1.

Elsewhere, relegation beckons for two Uzbekistan clubs, while Iranian top flight action resumed after the international break.

Join the-AFC.com for all the key results from Ashgabat to Andijan.

Bhutan's Premier League season came to an end as Transport United held on to second place despite falling to a defeat against BFF United.