Hilal beat Pakhtakor 2-0 on Wednesday to claim top spot in Group A and sealed a home advantage for its second stage of the AFC Champions League. At the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Mohammed Al-Anbar's header put Al-Hilal ahead in the first half before substitute Ahmed Al-Swaileh sealed the victory to set up a clash with Group C runner-up Umm Salal of Qatar in the knockout stage which kicks off on May 27. Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor will play Group D leader Al-Ittifaq at the Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam. All the four Saudi teams in the competition have earlier secured their passage to the crucial round. Al-Shabab which lost 1-0 against Piroozi of Iran at the Azadi Stadium on Wednesday failed to maintain the top spot in Group B to face its country rival Al-Ittihad in the last 16 at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah while Piroozi hosts second placed in Group D Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan. The Iranians secured the hard fought win in Tehran thanks to second half goal by Mohsin Khalili. Al-Hilal who came without its suspended striker Yasser Al-Qahtani dominated the game thanks to efforts of its midfielders Romanian Meril Radoi and Libyan Tariq Al-Taib. In the 36th minute, Al-Taib sent a cross from left for Al-Anbar to head home. In the 60th minute, Al-Hilal coach Abdul Latif Al-Hussaini replaced Al-Anbar with Al-Swaileh who doubled the lead. Al-Taib sent a long pass to Ahmed who sprinted to beat an advancing goalkeeper. Elsewhere, FC Seoul and Australia's Newcastle Jets clinched the last spots in the knockout rounds in dramatic fashion Wednesday, as defending champion Gamba Osaka suffered a shock loss. The South Korean team upset Gamba in Japan, with a 90th minute goal from Kim Han-yoon handing the visitor a surprise 2-1 win and the berth. The berth would have gone to China's Shandong Luneng, who only needed to beat Indonesian minnows Sriwijaya, a team that had conceded 22 goals and failed to pick up a point in its five previous games but it lost 4-2. Newcastle booked its place in the knockout round with a 1-0 win over Korea's Ulsan Hyundai. In the group's other match, Nagoya Grampus drew 1
