Shanghai Shenhua and Australia's 2006 A-League winner Sydney FC played out a scoreless draw yesterday in an Asian Champions League match.

In Jinan, Shandong Luneng drew 2-2 to Australia's Adelaide United, which means that to top Group G it needs a draw in its final match in a fortnight away to South Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa, which beat Vietnam's Dong Tam Long An 2-1 yesterday.

Shenhua came into the game with only one point from four rounds and had no chance of advancing to the quarterfinals.

Sydney, which beat Shenhua 2-1 in Shanghai in the opening match of the tournament, must now beat Group E leader Urawa Reds in Japan in two weeks to ensure the Australian side advances.

Also, Kawasaki Frontale became the first team to advance to the AFC Champions League quarterfinals yesterday after Kengo Nakamura scored two goals to power the Japanese team past Arema Malang of Indonesia 3-0.

With the win, Frontale took an unassailable six point lead in Group F ahead of the final round of preliminary matches, becoming the first Japanese team to ever advance to the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League.

Frontale joins Chonbuk Motors in the quarterfinals. The South Korean team qualified for the final eight automatically as the defending champion.

While Kawasaki advanced, Japanese champion Urawa Reds wasted its opportunity after being held to a 3-3 draw away to Indonesia's Persik Kediri in Group E.

(Shanghai Daily/Agencies May 10, 2007)