The match, which was disrupted late in the second half by a floodlight failure, had looked to be heading for a draw when Li latched onto an Aleksandar Zivkovic pass and slid the ball through the legs of Brazilian goalkeeper Santos for his second goal of the game, finally breaking the resistance of the Vietnamese side.

Dong Tam twice took the lead in the first half through Kabanga Tshamala and Nguyen Viet Thang but had to hold on after Nguyen Hoang Thuong was sent off just before half-time.

Wang Yongpo scored the Chinese side's first equaliser with an exquisite free-kick and Li headed home after the break for Shandong, who also missed a penalty.

The victory helped Shandong maintain their five-point lead over second-placed Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in Group G.

The Chinese league champions only need two points from their final two games to book their passage into the knockout stage.

The Vietnamese champions were badly outplayed in their 4-0 loss to Shandong in China two weeks ago but delighted the home fans by taking the lead with a spectacular strike by Tshamala in the 14th minute.

Receiving the ball from Nguyen Viet Thang with his back to goal 25 yards out, the Congolese striker spun and fired a left-foot drive that flew past Shandong goalkeeper Li Leilei into the top right corner of the net.

Shandong were back on level terms in the 29th minute when Wang won a free-kick after he was brought down by Nguyen Hoang Thuong 25 yards from goal.

Wang dusted himself off to take the free-kick himself, curling an exquisite shot just inside the right post.

Dong Tam were back in front on 36 minutes when Viet Thang picked up the ball in midfield and burst clear, outpacing two Shandong defenders before sliding a low shot past Li Leilei into the bottom left corner.

The Vietnamese side were sensing a huge shock, but suffered a big blow three minutes before the break when Cui Peng went down in the Dong Tam box under a challenge from Hoang Thuong.

The referee awarded Shandong a penalty and sent off the Dong Tam player for his second bookable offence.

Zivkovic took the spot kick, firing in a low shot that beat Santos but cannoned off the right post.

Shandong began the second half strongly with the man advantage and they were back on level terms in the 49th minute when Zivkovic made up for his earlier miss by sending in an excellent cross from the left that was headed past Santos by an onrushing Li.

The Chinese side began to turn the screw but were unable to find a way past Santos when the floodlights at the Long An Stadium went out with seven minutes remaining, prompting an eight-minute delay.

When play finally resumed, it appeared that the Vietnamese side would hold on for their first point of the competition until Li's dramatic late intervention helped Shandong to preserve their perfect record in Group G.