SEOUL: Last year’s runner-up FC Seoul beat Beijing Guoan 2-1 to advance to the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League on Wednesday.

Kang Song-ho scored a minute before halftime and Yun Ju-tae widened the lead in the 56th minute as the South Korean club topped Group F.

J-League champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima reached the last 16 for the first time by finishing second in the tight group after beating A-League club Central Coast Mariners 1-0.

Mariners, which needed only a draw to advance, were reduced to 10 men when Brent Griffiths was sent off for tripping Naoki Ishihara, and Satoru Yamagishi deflected Tsukasa Shiotani’s free kick into the net in the 72nd minute.

Seoul will face Group H runner-up Kawasaki Frontale in the round of 16 on May 7 and May 14, while Hiroshima plays Western Sydney Wanderers.

Japan’s Cerezo Osaka joined the round of 16 with a 2-1 comeback victory away at China’s Shandong Luneng in Group E.

Yoichiro Kakitani and Diego Forlan scored within three minutes of the new half for Cerezo, which finished second in its group and lined up defending champion and Group G winner Guangzhou Evergrande.

Pohang Steelers, the 2009 champion who had already secured a place in the knockout stage, finished first in the group after a goalless draw at home to Thailand’s Buriram United.

Pohang will play South Korean rival Jeonbuk Motors.