Ahead of a week from which will see the number of teams in the competition whittled down to just seven, the-AFC.com highlights five things to look out for across the continent.

There was no shortage of goals and excitement at both end of the continent as the ball found the back of the net 17 times in four matches. Find out some of the other notable figures as the-AFC.com looks back at the week in numbers.

Musa Al Taamari’s fabulous individual goal put Al Jazeera one up early on last Monday but Lukasz Gikiewicz headed home the equaliser shortly before half-time with what could prove to be a vital away goal.

Undefeated so far on the continent, Al Jazeera will need to score to have any chance of progressing to the West Zonal final. The winners will advance, but should there be a second successive draw between the sides, then away goals will decide their fate.

Mahdi Alameh returns from suspension for Al Faisaly, but Syrian international Mardek Mardikian is ruled out for Al Jazeera after he was sent off in the first leg last week.

Both sides rounded off their Jordan Premier League campaigns with defeats on Friday, with Al Jazeera losing 4-0 to champions Al Wehdat and Al Faisaly going down 1-0 to Aqaba. The results saw Al Faisaly edge above Al Jazeera into second place by virtue of a better goal difference.

Persija Jakarta are a good team and I think in this tournament they are the favourites, but as a team we played together and followed the coach’s plan. When I came on as a sub, the coach told me to try and shoot, so I did and unexpectedly it went in the back of the net. We are looking forward to the next game against them at their home.

Hafiz Nor (above, left) came off the bench to score the decisive goal in the 3-2 victory over Persija Jakarta, and the Home United midfielder reveals he had words of advice from coach Aidil Sharin.

Persija’s last trip to Singapore just two weeks ago resulted in a 4-2 victory over Tampines Rovers, but this time round at they found themselves two down inside 10 minutes and, despite dominating much of the game, returned to the Indonesian capital in need of another strong performance at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

Ceres were on top from the start and Manny Ott came close in the seventh minute when he curled a free-kick just wide from the edge of the penalty area.

Stephan Schrock could have opened the scoring just minutes later but shot over after being played through by Maranon, before Sekou Sylla fired wide down the other end midway through the half in a rare sight of goal for the visitors.

The hosts then took the lead in the 29th minute with a stunning effort from Spaniard Maranon, who raced on to a throughball from Manny Ott, looked up and lifted a delicate chip over the stranded goalkeeper Sann Sat Naing from the right side of the area.

Ceres went two up less than five minutes later when Mike Ott’s strike from distance was parried out by the Yangon custodian, only for midfielder Patrick Reichelt to be at the right place at the right time to finish from close in.

As half-time approached, Maranon tapped home his second from a yard out after Manny Ott’s corner from the right found its way to the forward at the back post.