Nagoya midfielder Jungo Fujimoto converted a penalty in the 77th minute as Dragan Stojkovic’s side overcame the absence of several injured first-choice players to beat China’s Hangzhou Greentown 1-0.

The result eliminated Hangzhou from contention.

In the other Group F match, Seoul had a 3-0 win over Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates. Midfield Han Ko-yo scored the icebreaker in the 17th minute, and Montenegrin striker Dejan Damjanovic made it 2-0 in the 40th. Damjanovic capped the night with his second in the 73rd.

Nagoya and Seoul lead the group with a game to play. Nagoya is at Al Ain and Seoul at Hangzhou. Nagoya has the better head-to-head record against Seoul, so will finish top of the group if it can at least match the Korean club’s result on May 11.

Top spot in the group is vital, as it brings home advantage in the next round.

In the tightly contested Group E, Tianjin progressed after a 3-0 home win over South Korea’s Jeju United.

Tianjin’s opening two goals came from corners. In the eighth minute, Argentine forward Luciano Olguin rose above the defense to head home, then in the 21st an unmarked Wu Wei’an was first to a rebound to shoot into an empty net.

It should have been 3-0 before the break, but Olguin’s tap-in of a cross by Wu was incorrectly ruled out for offside. The Chinese club sealed the three points in the 75th minute when Chen Tao sprinted clear after a defender misjudged a header, and was brought down by Jeju goalkeeper Kim Ho-jun. Cao Yang converted the spot kick.

Australia’s Melbourne Victory drew 1-1 at home against Japan’s Gamba Osaka, leaving the fate of both teams — and Jeju — to be decided on the final match day.

Former champion Gamba routed Melbourne 5-1 earlier in the campaign — which prompted the firing of long-term Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick — but Wednesday’s contest was much harder, with Victory captain Adrian Leijer putting his side ahead in the 12th before Sota Nakazawa equalized in the 43rd.

Gamba has seven points, Jeju is on six and Melbourne has five going into the final match day. Gamba will host the qualified Tianjin, while the Victory travels to Jeju.
 

Meantime, Palestine will replace Thailand in the second round of Asian qualifying for the 2012 Olympics after the Thais were booted out for fielding an ineligible player.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Wednesday that Palestine, beaten on a penalty shootout by Thailand in the first round, had been awarded a 3-0 first-leg win.

Thailand had won the home leg 1-0 in Bangkok before being found to have fielded suspended player Sutjarit Jantakol, the AFC said on their website (www.the-afc.com).

The Thai football association (FAT) hit back at the AFC, accusing them of being unclear on the rules but their formal appeal was over-ruled by FIFA, according to the AFC.

The player picked up a one-match suspension for violent conduct at the Asian Under-19 championship in 2008.

However, the Thai FA claimed Sutjarit had already served the ban because he was in the country’s squad at the 2010 Asian Games, although he did not play.

Thai soccer chief Worawi Makudi pledged to fight the decision after the AFC countered that the Asian Games soccer tournament is run by the Olympic Council of Asia.

“It was the match commissioner’s mistake and not Thailand’s,” Worawi told the Bangkok Post. “We will fight to the end.”

Palestine will now play Bahrain over two legs on June 19 and 23.