Adelaide United held China's Changchun Yatai to a scoreless draw Thursday, securing the last spot in the Asian Champions League quarterfinals and becoming the first Australian club to advance past the group stage in the continental championship. Adelaide joins three Japanese clubs in the last eight, including defending champion Urawa Red Diamonds who got a bye into the knockout stage, plus Syria's Al-Karama, Uzbekistan's Kuruvchi, Saipa from Iran and Kuwait side Al-Qadsia. The draw for September's quarterfinals will be held Saturday. Adelaide needed only avoid a loss in the match, which was delayed 24 hours due to the period of morning following last week's deadly earthquake in China, to advance to the knockout round. The draw was enough to win Group E by two points, with Adelaide finishing the group stage undefeated on four wins and two draws. Changchun was also unbeaten with three wins and three draws. Defenders Angelo Costanzo and Sasa Ognenovski defused countless Yatai attacking raids with their aggressive tackling and superiority in the air. Both shrugged off injury or sickness to make the starting 11, while Milan Susak was shifted into left-back so that Lucas Pantelis could move forward. Changchun attacked relentlessly down the left and was unlucky not to grab a lead when a free kick deflected off a post after a half hour. Bruce Djite just failed to connect with Pantelis' cross in the 79th minute and Yatai went close in the last 10 minutes, with Ognenovski heading off the line in the last minute to preserve the draw. On Wednesday, Kashima won 4-0 at Vietnam's Nam Dinh to clinch the Group F title while Al-Karama settled for a 0-0 draw at home against Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli, enough to finish atop Group C. Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia finished last in Group C with four points from 4 draws and two losses. Its countrymate Al-Ittihad stood third in Group A with nine points from 3 wins and 3 losses. However, it beat Al-Ittihad of Syria 3-0 in their final encounter. Beijing Guoan lost to Krung Thai Bank of Thailand 5-3. Al-Karama finished atop Group C with 11 points, two ahead of second-placed Al-Wahda of the United Arab Emirates, which drew 0-0 at Qatar's Al-Sadd in their final group match. In Group G, Gamba Osaka went through the motions in a 1-1 draw against South Korea's Chunnam Dragons. In the other game in the group, Australia's Melbourne Victory had a 3-1 home win over Thailand's Chonburi. In Group A, it was: Sepahan 1, Kuruvchi 1; and Saudia Arabia's Al-Ittihad defeated its Syrian namesake 3-0. Elsewhere, in Group B, it was: Al-Wasl 1, Saipa 1; and Al-Kuwait (Kuwait) 1, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2. In Group D, it was: Pakhatakor 2, Al Gharafa 0; and Arbil 4, Al Qadsia 2. The Pohang Steelers drew 0-0 with Binh Duong of Vietnam, which earned its first point in six matches in Group E.
