JAPANESE club Kashiwa Reysol secured a spot in the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League with a 3-2 win over Jeonbuk Motors on Wednesday night.

    Kashiwa led Jeonbuk by three points in Group E with a round to go. China’s Shandong Luneng, which beat visiting Binh Duong of Vietnam 3-1, was one point further behind and travels to Jeonbuk in the last group rotation.

    Eduardo opened the scoring early for host Kashiwa with a header, and Kosuke Taketomi doubled the advantage soon after, beating Jeonbuk goalkeeper Kwoun Sun-tae from close range.

    Taketomi made it 3-0 six minutes before the break when he converted a pass from Cristiano. Lee Dong-gook scored a pair in the second half, but Kashiwa held on.

    In China’s Jinan, Yang Xu, Junior Urso and an own goal by Minh Duc Pham completed Shandong’s scoresheet.

    In South Korea, first-half goals from Kim Do-heon and Nam Jae-joon gave Seongnam FC a 2-1 win over Thailand’s Buriram United and control of Group F.

    Seongnam leads by three points after five games. A point for Seongnam at Gamba Osaka on May 6 will guarantee a place in the second round.

    But Gamba Osaka will also be playing to advance as it was tied in the standings with Buriram after beating Guangzhou R&F 5-0.

    There are three teams vying for the top two spots in Group A after Lekhwiya moved atop the pool on 10 points following a 3-0 win over Persepolis, which remained on nine.

    Al Nassr had a 1-0 win at Bunyodkor to move back into contention on eight points ahead of the last group matches May 6, when it hosts Lekhwiya.(SD-Agencies)