Gamba Osaka advanced to the Asian Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday after two goals in the last seven minutes secured the J. League outfit a 4-1 aggregate victory over Al Karama.

Akira Noshino's held the upper hand heading into the second leg of their quarter-final tie against the Syrian champions, having won the first encounter 2-1 in Homs last week.

And their passage was confirmed when substitute Masato Yamazaki put them ahead on Wednesday before setting up Brazilian frontman Roni for the second two minutes later.

The best chance of the first half fell to Ryuji Bando, but he was only able to direct his header against the left-hand post after Shinichi Terada's effort from just outside the area had come back off the crossbar.

Bando's disappointing night finished just after the hour mark when he was replaced by Yamazaki, who wasted no time in making his mark.

Seven minutes from time, the 26-year-old latched on to a pass from Roni and outpaced the Al Karama defence before striking a shot past goalkeeper Mosab Balhous from an acute angle to give his side a two-goal overall cushion.

Yamazaki then returned the favour to Roni with a quick one-two allowing the South American to lash past a helpless Balhous.