SINGAPORE -- Seven days ago, Lion City Sailors looked dead and buried in the AFC Champions League Two.
An unexpected twist a couple of days later handed them an unlikely lifeline.
On Wednesday, the Singapore Premier League outfit made the most of their reprieve.
With a 1-1 draw against Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Jalan Besar Stadium, the Sailors sealed a 4-1 aggregate victory to advance from the quarterfinals -- benefitting significantly from the 3-0 win that was awarded to them after their J1 League opponents had fielded an ineligible player in their original 6-1 triumph.
Even though they had a healthy lead to sit back on, it was the Sailors who took the lead in the 20th minute when an ingenious flick over the shoulder by Shawal Anuar released Lennart Thy, who charged into the area before drilling a shot that unerringly found the bottom corner.
But Sanfrecce, who would have still been confident in their prospects of turning the tie around given the undoubted quality at their disposal, mustered an inevitable response four minutes after the half-hour mark with Yotaro Nakajima dinking a deft freekick over the ball and bouncing past a stranded Izwan Mahbud.
It set the stage for the tournament favourites to mount an onslaught on the hosts in the second half yet, when they had Ryo Germain sent off for violent conduct just six minutes after their restart, their hopes of producing a comeback were all but extinguished.
Instead, it is the Sailors who are marching on to the semifinals, where they will meet either Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors or Sydney FC.
In reaching the last four of Asian football's second-tier tournament, they have also matched the best performance by a Singaporean club in continental competition.
The last time that happened was when both Home United, the now-defunct club that Sailors were founded from, and Geylang International reached the semis of the inaugural edition of the AFC Cup -- the ACL Two's predecessor -- in 2004.
Grounded as always, Sailors coach Aleksandar Ranković refused to look too far ahead when asked by ESPN if getting this far could now leave them dreaming of the final.
"First we have learn to crawl before we walk and then we have to walk before we learn to run," he said. "We can't jump too far ahead.
"Step by step, first we have to see who we're going to draw.
"It's good to have a dream and you should have it. But for me, as a coach, that's not permitted. I have to focus -- and my next game is on Sunday."
Although he did jokingly hint at a preference regarding their semifinal opponents, adding: "We haven't been to Australia yet in my time here. That's the only place we haven't been."
The Sailors' historic night was soured by an early injury to star man Maxime Lestienne, who was writhing in agony after appearing to sustain an arm injury after colliding with Sanfrecce captain Sho Sasaki.
In his absence, Shawal -- who was rotated to the bench for the evening -- came on and put in a real shift alongside Thy, who was deservingly named Player of the Match.
"I appreciate this [getting this far in the ACL Two] extremely," said the German spearhead. "When I first came here, all I heard were stories from last season, although it was a different competition [now AFC Champions League Elite].
"So I didn't really have any expectations but today we did really good. In the end, we're happy we're through."
The Sailors did have sympathy for the manner in which the opposition were bowing out over an administrative oversight.
"It's a mixed feeling, like I said in the prematch news conference," Ranković said.
"You don't want to win the game in the way we won but, nevertheless, it's in the rules. We had nothing to do with that.
"I feel sorry for the other team and their coach but I'm very proud of our achievement."