With both teams coming into the game on the back of losses on Matchday Two in Group F, Fabio Cannavaro and Kevin Muscat knew a win was needed to keep their respective hopes alive and it was the former Italian international defender who was smiling early.

The crossbar denied the home side from taking the lead in the fourth minute when Anderson Talisca’s exquisite free kick smashed back off the woodwork, but he made amends two minutes later when he headed home from Gao Lin’s cross to give his side the lead.

The visitors travelled to Hiroshima looking to keep their perfect record in this year’s AFC Champions League campaign intact.

They were on the back foot early, however, after Park Han-bin took down Yuki Nogami in the penalty area after just eight minutes, with the referee having no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Brazilian striker Douglas Vieira was the man tasked with taking the resulting spot-kick and despite Cho Hyun-woo diving the right way, the Korea Republic international could do nothing to keep the ball out as the J.League leaders took an early lead.

The visitors made the better start to the game and a driving run down the right from Maguinho ended with Oh Seung-hoon saving from his powerful shot in the eighth minute.

The Ulsan keeper soon had to save again when Tatsuya Hasegawa cut inside from the left and tested him with a low shot.

The draw ensured the China PR side stay two points above the Australians in the Group H standings.

There was a stunning start as Sydney scored after just three minutes. Siem De Jong brought the ball down on the edge of the SIPG penalty area and his low shot was deflected into the net.

Making his first appearance in this year’s competition after a lengthy injury lay-off, the Spanish midfielder opened the scoring in the sixth minute at Pakhtakor Stadium with a sweetly struck curling effort from the edge of the area.

Then, after the Uzbek side levelled through Khojiakbar Alijonov's rocket from distance, the 2010 FIFA World Cup winner netted a delightful free-kick from just outside the right side of the penalty area.

The Tehran team went into the match having picked up just one point from two games, but an acrobatic first-half effort from Shoja Khalilzadeh opened the scoring before Ali Alipour’s close-range finish shortly after the restart secured the 2-0 victory.

There are now just two points separating first-place Pakhtakor and bottom-of-the-table Al Ahli in a compact Group D, with both Persepolis and Al Sadd sandwiched in between the pair.

The former Manchester United midfielder headed home from a corner on the half hour mark to open the scoring, before fellow ex-English Premier League star Graziano Pelle doubled the advantage.

JDT's young talent Safawi Rasid pulled a goal back in spetacular style just before the hour, but Fellaini and his teammates were able to hold out for a crucial win that sees them take hold of second place in Group E.