Naif Hazazi scored a hat trick to steer Al-Ittihad to a 7-0 victory over Qatar's Umm Salal in their AFC Champions encounter at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here on Tuesday. Brazilian Renato Morais scored a brace while Saleh Al-Saqri and Talal Al-Meshal completed the score. Although both sides have secured their spots among the last 16 sides Al-Ittihad's win helped it seal home advantage in the next round. Al-Ittihad, on 12 points, will play runner-up in Group B which will be decided on Wednesday when the leader Al-Shabab of Saudi Arabia plays Piroozi of Iran at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran. As Group C runner-up Umm Salal visits the winner of Group A. In the other group game, the UAE's Al-Jazira drew 2-2 with Iran's Esteghal. The second Saudi representative in action on the day, Al-Ittifaq, faced a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Iran's Sepahan in Tehran. Despite the defeat, Dammam's Al-Ittifaq remained on top of Group D with 12 points thanks to a goalless draw between Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan and the UAE's Al-Shabab. Hossain Papi gave the 2007 AFC Champions League runner-up the lead after only two minutes before Hadi Asghari and Hamid Azizzadeh sealed the win for the Iranian side with second-half goals. Al-Ittifaq will play its home knockout stage against Group A runner-up Al-Hilal or Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan, who play their last match in Riyadh on Wednesday. Elsewhere, South Korean powerhouse Suwon Bluewings booked its spot in the AFC Champions League knockout rounds as Kawasaki Frontale set up an all-Japanese last 16 clash with Gamba Osaka. The K-League champion overcame stubborn resistance from minnow Singapore Armed Forces to win 3-1 with first-half goals from Bae Gi-jong and Lee Sang-ho and a last minute penalty by Seo Dong-hyeon doing the job. Their victory snuffed out any hope that Shanghai Shenhua had of staying in Asia's top club competition, with the Chinese outfit playing for pride only against Japan's Kashima Antlers. That match ended 1-1 with Marquinhos' 31st minute goal for Kashima cancelling out Mark Milligan's ninth minute opener. The draw means Kashima top Group G and faces a round of 16 clash with either FC Seoul or China's Shandong Luneng, who meet Wednesday to decide which one finishes second in Group F behind defending champion Gamba. A 2-0 away win for Pohang Steelers over Kawasaki ensured the Korean side avoided in-form Gamba in the knockout rounds, with the J-Leaguer instead forced to play its compatriot on June 24 for a place in the quarterfinals. The win earned the Korean FA Cup holder a crack at a quarterfinal berth against either Australia's Newcastle Jets or fellow Koreans Ulsan Hyundai, who play on Wednesday. In a dead-rubber match in that group, Tianjin Teda ended China's away drought with a smash-and-grab 1-0 win over Australia's Central Coast Mariners. Like Japan, Saudi Arabia has all four of its clubs through, along with Piroozi (Iran), Pakhtakor (Uzbekistan) and Umm Salal (Qatar). __
