Lekhwiya kept their AFC Champions League hopes alive despite a valiant fightback from Al Hilal on Wednesday night.
Lekhwiya kept their AFC Champions League hopes alive despite a valiant fightback from Al Hilal on Wednesday night.
The Qatari side were 1-0 up from the first leg and it looked as though they were heading through comfortably, going 2-0 up on the night with goals from Issiar Dia and Mohammed Musa on 15 and 52 minutes respectively.
However, Salman Al Faraj put his side on the comeback trail after 64 minutes before Mohammed Al Shaboub converted a penalty 14 minutes later.
Lekhwiya held on though, edging through 3-2 on aggregate, and will feature in the next round alongside Kashiwa Reysol, who enjoyed a hard-fought win over Jeonbuk Motors on Wednesday.
The Japanese side, who had a 2-0 lead from the first leg, felt the pressure after 22 minutes when Tatsuya Masushima put the ball into his own net, although the hosts equalised just before half-time.
Hirofumi Watanabe scored on 43 minutes to allay any fears for the home fans, while Jorge Wagner and Masato Kudo added one each to make the tie safe.
Kevin Oris grabbed a goal back for Jeonbuk in the 87th minute, but this proved to be a consolation as Kashiwa go on to the quarter final of the competition, where they will be joined by Guangzhou Evergrande.
The Chinese side dispatched Central Coast Mariners, adding three goals to the 2-1 lead they secured from the first leg in Australia.
Muriqui got the home side off to the best possible start after seven minutes before Dario Conco's penalty on the stroke of half-time put Guangzhou well in control.
The Chinese Super League leaders added a third on 68 minutes through Gao Lin, despite protests from the visitors, who felt he was offside.
Esteghlal and Al Shabab drew 0-0 in Iran, with the hosts going through to the next round after their 4-2 first leg win.