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AFC Champions League Review: Lee heroics in vain as Kashiwa progress
Lee Dong-gook made history despite seeing Jeonbuk Motors beaten by Kashiwa Reysol in the AFC Champions League.
Kashiwa Reysol reached the last 16 of the AFC Champions League with victory over Jeonbuk Motors, despite Lee Dong-gook's best efforts.
The 2013 semi-finalists safely assured their progression with a 3-2 victory over their Group E rivals after Lee's brace made him the competition's all-time leading scorer on 27.
Eduardo's opener and a Kosuke Taketomi brace put hosts Kashiwa well on top by half-time at the Kashiwa Hitachi Stadium.
Lee's brace, which included a stunning overhead kick, threatened a comeback and while it never materialised, the former Middlesbrough man etched his name into the history books nonetheless.
Shandong Luneng kept alive their hopes of qualifying alongside Kashiwa with a 3-1 victory over Vietnamese side Binh Duong.
Yang Xu and Junior Urso were on target in the victory at the Luneng Big Stadium.
Qualification from Group F remains up in the air after Gamba Osaka hammered 10-man Guangzhou R&F 5-0 - Patric and Hiroyuki Abe supplying a brace each.
It keeps Gamba in the mix for a place in the knockout stages with one game remaining, while R&F slip bottom.
"As the head coach I am responsible for the result, I am very disappointed and I have to apologise to the fans for letting them down," explained Cosmin Contra.
Leaders Seongnam saw off second-placed Buriram United 2-1 while Group A's bottom side Bunyodkor remain winless after Adrian Mierzejewski gave Al Nasr a 1-0 victory.
Persepolis and Lekhwiya also remain in the running for a qualification berth from the pool after the Qatari side completed a 3-0 victory over their group rivals in Doha.
Group B rivals Naft Tehran and Pakhtakor played out a 1-1 draw that keeps both their qualification hopes alive, with Vladimir Kozak cancelling out Gholamreza Rezaei's opener.
Al Ain are also in the mix going into their final game after Asamoah Gyan's 58th-minute tap-in gave them a 1-0 victory over Al Shabab.