Mohamed Ghazi struck 10 minutes from the end at Emirates Stadium following Igor Castro's through ball to preserve Zob Ahan's unbeaten record and finally see off the dogged hosts.

Al Shabab moved above the UAE side into second spot with a 1-0 win at home to Al Rayyan, Nassir Al Shamrani heading home Camacho's superb cross in the second half to seal the points.

Jeonbuk Motors also advanced to the second phase with a 2-1 win at Shandong Luneng in Group G.

Lee Dong-gook put the visitors ahead on the half-hour mark, beating goalkeeper Yang Cheng with a low shot, but Zhou Haibin levelled with a long-range effort five minutes before the interval.

Lee struck again six minutes after the break with a header at the far post to send the 2006 winners through with a game to spare.

The other game saw Cerezo Osaka win 4-0 at Arema Indonesia, Hiroshi Kiyotake, Rodrigo Pimpao, Yusuke Maruhashi and Takushi Inui getting the goals.

Bunyodkor took a big step towards the knockout stage in Group C with a 3-2 triumph over Al Wahda.

After Ismail Matar had put the visitors ahead with a clinical finish after just two minutes, Milos Trifunovic's double gave Bunyodkor the lead at the break.

Hugo levelled from the spot for Al Wahda but Anjurvon Soliev's header six minutes from time bagged the points.

Piroozi also kept their fading hopes alive with a 3-2 victory over leaders Al Ittihad.

Hamidreza Aliasgari stuck in the 14th minute before a second goal from Eshpeitim Arifi two minutes later was cancelled out by Mohammed Al Rashed's firm header in the first half.

Aliasgari extended Piroozi's lead in the 69th minute before the visitors pulled one back through a stoppage-time own goal from Sekou Berthe.

Suwon Bluewings and Kashima Antlers progressed from Group H with 3-1 and 2-0 wins over Sydney FC and Shanghai Shenhua respectively, while in Group B, leaders Al Sadd staged a thrilling comeback to hold Esteghlal to a 2-2 draw.

Al Sadd were behind at the break after visiting skipper Farhad Majidi struck twice, but turned it around in the second period with Khalfan Ibrahim and substitute Hasan Haydos both on target.