Algeria's Yacine Brahimi and Ivory Coast's Yohan Boli were on target as Al Rayyan pulled themselves within a point of leaders Al Duhail, who face Umm Salal on Saturday.

Al Duhail are on 42 points with five matches remaining for them.

Yahya Golmohammadi’s side prevailed 2-1 in the match at Behnam Mohammadi Stadium.

Needing a single point on the night to close out the title race, Ali Alipour and Mehdi Abdi Qara scored either side of half-time to put Persepolis in a commanding position, with Hossein Ebrahimi’s 71st minute penalty serving as consolation for the hosts.

A traditional giant of the Chinese game, Beijing were last crowned champions in 2009 – a season that saw a teenage Zhang make his debut for the side – but they have endured numerous near misses since, with three runners-up finishes and twice coming third in the past decade.

The last two years, however, have seen Beijing lift the FA Cup in 2018 and run Guangzhou Evergrande close to the 2019 CSL title, finishing just two points adrift of the Guangdong club after a pulsating title race that saw Beijing achieve a record points tally of 70.

Victory languish in 10th place in the 11-team A-League standings and make their first appearance since the post-COVID-19 shutdown when they face Western United harbouring slim hopes of breaking into the top six to secure a place in the Championship playoffs.

But Melbourne, who are also playing in the 2020 AFC Champions League, will have to face Mark Rudan’s side without the former Bayer Leverkusen man, who picked up an injury to his left knee that means he will play no part in what remains of the campaign.

The 2020 season was originally scheduled to begin in late February but postponed before a ball was kicked; however, a rejigged version with two groups of eight teams will begin on Saturday, with Group A based in Dalian and Group B in Suzhou.

Each side will play the other teams in their group twice before those finishing in the top four progress to a knockout round Championship Stage to decide the 2020 Chinese Super League winners, with the bottom four entering into a Relegation Stage where they will face off in a bid to avoid dropping into the second tier.

Ozu Moreira was named the new head coach of the Japanese beach soccer national team on Thursday, taking over from Ruy Ramos.

With our series so far including acrobatic goals, solo goals, volleys, long-range screamers, free-kicks, last-minute winners, curlers and flicks, tricks and backheels, this week's compilation sees beautifully executed finishes from teams from Pyongyang, Bacolod, Yangon and more so sit back and enjoy!