Sitting alongside Masih Saighani, who scored a stoppage-time goal to help the side seal a 1-0 result, the Portuguese labeled the win as massive for Bangladesh football.

Questioned about emotions in the dugout after Saighani’s goal, Lemos said “It was big because Chennaiyin were winning and if we had drawn this game, we would be out. So, it’s massive for the club as well as the country to qualify for the first time.”

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.

The win, however, was not enough for Chennaiyin to finish as group winners, as Bangladesh's Abahani Limited Dhaka clinched top spot after beating Minerva Punjab 1-0 in the other Group E tie.

Altyn, the 2018 AFC Cup runners-up, took a 1-0 lead at the start of the second half, but conceded through an Istiklol set-piece before weathering a late charge by their opponents to share the spoils at the Central Republican Stadium.

Visitors Binh Duong came into Wednesday's return fixture with a one goal advantage from the first leg in Vietnam and opened the scoring in Indonesia after Wander Luiz looped in a header for his fifth goal of the campaign just before half-time.

Makassar came roaring back in the second half, though, and an own-goal from Binh Duong's Ho Tan Tai followed by Aaron Evan's late strike three minutes before the end ensured a frantic finish.

However, the Vietnamese club were able to hold out and secure a place in the final phase of the ASEAN section of the AFC Cup tournament, advancing on the away goals after a 2-2 aggregate score.

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.