Feb 10 (Reuters) - Vissel Kobe confirmed their progress to the knockout rounds of the Asian Champions League Elite on Tuesday as Yoshinori Muto's solo goal set up Michael Skibbe's side for a 2-0 win over FC Seoul that qualified the Japanese team for the last 16.
The former Newcastle United forward marched two-thirds of the length of the pitch to thump his side's 69th-minute opener into the top corner before Gotoku Sakai scored Kobe's second four minutes later.
Kobe remainedtop of the 12-team standings and confirmed their place in the next phase of the competition alongside compatriots Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Machida Zelvia.
Hiroshima notched up a 2-1 win over Malaysia's Johor Darul Ta'zim while Machida recorded a 2-0 victory over Shanghai Shenhua that knocked out the Chinese Super League side.
Yuki Soma scored both his side's goals in Shanghai, netting a third-minute penalty after Jin Shunkai's clumsy challenge brought Shuto Fujio down inside the opening 30 seconds.
Soma confirmed his side's win two minutes from time with an emphatic finish to take Machida on to 14 points and into the next phase with one round of matches left.
Hiroshima, meanwhile, battled back from going behind to an early Marcos Guilherme strike to defeat 10-man JDT.
Guilherme put the visitors in front after an under-hit back pass by Taichi Yamasaki in the third minute but Jonathan Silva's sending-off for a handball on the goalline swung the game in Hiroshima's favour.
Akito Suzuki scored from the resulting penalty in the 18th minute and struck again two minutes into the second half with a glancing header to secure the points that guaranteed Hiroshima a last-16 spot.
Kobe, Hiroshima and Machida are all certain to finish in the top eight positions and advance to the knockout rounds, which will be played on a home-and-away basis in the first two weeks of March.
The winners of those matches will feature in the finals phase in Saudi Arabia, which will be played in Jeddah in late April.
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Ed Osmond)
