BANGKOK Feb 17 (Reuters) - Thailand's Buriram United claimed a 2-0 win over Shanghai Shenhua on Tuesday to confirm their progress to the knockout rounds of the Asian Champions League Elite alongside Malaysia's Johor Darul Ta'zim.
JDT notched up a 1-0 victory against already-qualified Vissel Kobe at a sold-out Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Johor as Marcos Guilherme's 73rd-minute strike booked his side's passage into the next round.
Goals from Curtis Good and Suphanat Mueanta in the 11th and 22nd minutes respectively earned Buriram a victory that takes Mark Jackson's side on to 14 points from their eight league phase matches and up to fourth in the table.
"I thought our first half was really good," said defender Good, who put his side in front with a close-range header.
"We could have scored a few more goals. I thought the boys were excellent and it's good to have a win going into the next round."
The first eight finishers in the 12-team standings in both east and west Asia advance to the last 16, which will be played on a home-and-away basis in March.
The tournament's quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will then be held in Jeddah in a centralised format in April.
FC Seoul squandered the opportunity to confirm their progress when Kim Gi-dong's hosts threw away a two-goal lead in stoppage time to draw 2-2 with Japan's Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
A Patryk Klimala penalty had given FC Seoul a 10th-minute lead and an own goal by Naoto Arai doubled the home side's advantage 17 minutes later.
Ryo Germain slid in to pull one back for Hiroshima, who had already confirmed their progress earlier in the league phase, in the 93rd minute and, three minutes later, Kosuke Kinoshita headed in the equaliser.
That result leaves the South Koreans sweating on the outcome of Wednesday's matches, which see Gangwon FC, who are currently in eighth position, take on Melbourne City while ninth-placed Ulsan HD play bottom side Shanghai Port.
Japan's Machida Zelviamoved to the top of the standings with a 3-2 win over Chengdu Rongcheng that snuffed out the Chinese side's slender prospects of advancing.
Australian striker Tete Yengi scored twice to take Go Kuroda's team on to 17 points and set up a round-of-16 meeting with the side that finishes in eighth place in the standings.
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Clare Fallon)
