Wu Lei's last-gasp goal sends Shanghai SIPG into the quarterfinals of AFC Champions League.

After reigning AFC Champions League champions Guangzhou Evergrande's surprising failure to make it out of the Group Stage, China's hopes of ensuring Asian club football's most coveted prize will remain in the People's Republic continue to rest with Shandong Luneng and Shanghai SIPG, although the Chinese Super League duo came perilously close to following the 2013 and 2015 ACL champions out the exit door with both sides scraping into the last eight on the away goals rule.

Having been the top scoring Chinese player in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 domestic campaign's attacking midfielder Wu Lei knows his way to the back of the net but not many will have been as significant as the goals he scored in each leg of Shanghai SIPG's Round of 16 clash with FC Tokyo. The Japanese side had one foot in the quarter-finals after a Kota Mizunuma first-leg double - bookending a 55th minute leveller from Wu - continued to separate the sides as the return fixture at the Shanghai Stadium approached the final final whistle. However, Wu struck the winner one minute into second-half stoppage time to send Shanghai SPIG through on the away goals rule after the teams were locked 2-2 on aggregate.

Shandong Luneng also left it late to advance on the away goals rule with Hao Junmin netting a 90th minute equaliser at the Sydney Football Stadium earning his side a 2-2 second-leg stalemate with Sydney FC, after the Australian side had returned from China with a creditable 1-1 draw. Sydney's A-League rivals Melbourne Victory also drew 1-1 in the first leg of their Round of 16 clash with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, but the tie at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium gave the South Koreans the slight edge going into the second leg, with a brace from Brazilian Leonardo - who also scored the equaliser in Melbourne - sending the 2006 ACL champions through to the last eight with a 3-2 aggregate win.

FC Seoul ensured Korea Republic would have two representatives in the quarter-finals as the 2013 runners-up to Guangzhou Evergrande saw off former ACL champions Urawa Reds 7-6 on penalties, in the only Round of 16 fixture that would be decided by spot-kicks. After a narrow 1-0 defeat in Japan, FC Seoul turned the tie in their favour after taking the lead four minutes into extra time after Dejan Damjanović had cancelled out Tomoya Ugajin first-leg winner. Two goals in a remarkable three minute spell from Tadanari Lee - scorer of Japan's extra-time winner in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup final - swung the tie back in favour of the 2007 ACL champions. However, Go Yo-han's sumptuous stoppage-time strike made it 3-3 on aggregate to send the match into the shootout, which FC Seoul won when Kim Dong-woo scored the decisive penalty after Yoshiaki Komai had missed Urawa's eighth spot-kick.

Goal fest in the West as Lokomotiv derail Al Hilal

While the West Asian half of the draw didn't feature the late drama that had characterised the East Asian Round of 16 fixtures it was just as entertaining and enthralling, with no less than 26 goals scored over the eight matches.

The first leg of Al Hilal's Round of 16 clash with knockout stage newcomers Lokomotiv bucked the scoring trend somewhat as it was the only fixture that failed to produce a goal, but the stalemate in Saudi Arabia proved significant as it led to the dismissal of Al Hilal coach Giorgios Donnis and laid the foundations of the Uzbek side to advance at the expense of the 2014 ACL runners-up. Lokomotiv, unbeaten in the continental competition since Al Hilal won in Tashkent last year took a two-goal lead thanks to goals from Islom Tukhtakhujaev and Sherzod Fayziev before a last-minute penalty from substitute Mohammed Al Shalhoub was too little too late for the two-time Asian Club Championship winners as Lokomotiv steamed through to the quarter-finals as one of three teams to be taking part in the last eight of the ACL for the first time ever.

Another quarter-final debutant El Jaish, meanwhile, looked to have sewn up their place in the last eight after an emphatic 4-0 first-leg victory over Qatar Stars League rivals Lekhwiya but the four-time Qatari champions weren't going down without a fight. By the 65th minute of the second leg Lekhwiya were 4-1 up on the night and with plenty of time to complete the unlikeliest of turnarounds, despite having been reduced to ten men following the sending off of defender Chico Flores. However a 70th minute goal from Romarinho, scorer of two goals in the first leg, proved too much of a mountain to climb for Lehkwiya as El Jaish advanced to the last eight for the first time in their history.

Like El Jaish, Al Nasr also endured a nervous second leg as the UAE side also reached the ACL quarter-finals for the first time in their history. Like their Qatar counterparts Al Nasr had scored four times in the first leg, defeating Tractorsazi Tabriz 4-1 in Dubai before Salem Saleh scored 15 minutes into the return fixture in Iran to put Ivan Jovanovic's side firmly on course for a place in the last eight. But three second-half goals threatened to see the Iranians match Al Nasr's first-leg tally only for Mohammad Iranpourian goal just after the hour mark to complete the scoring.

Scoring had become something of an issue for Al Nasr's UAE league rivals Al Ain with the inaugural AFC Champions League champions finding the net just eight times during the Group Stage before being held to a 1-1 draw at home in the first leg of their Round of 16 clash with Zobahan. However, the Al Ain attack clicked into gear in the return fixture in Iran as a goal in each half from Korea Republic international Lee Myung-jo and Colombian winger Danilo Asprilla saw the UAE safely through to the quarter-finals as only the second former ACL winner to take their place in the last eight.

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