SINGAPORE -- Having made history by becoming the first Singaporean club to reach to continental final last season, Lion City Sailors' hopes of repeating that run in the AFC Champions League Two this term looked to be dead and buried just before the hour mark in Wednesday's clash with Persib Bandung.
After Lennart Thy had fired the Sailors ahead at Bishan Stadium in the 9th minute, Frans Putros would equalise just two minutes later before an Andrew Jung strike 11 minutes after the restart would put the Group G-leading Persib in front.
Nonetheless, Shawal Anuar restored parity for the hosts in the 62nd minute as he pounced on a loose ball inside the six-yard box -- after Putros had failed to make a crucial interception in a 50-50 duel with the Sailors forward -- and finished from close range.
And, with 13 minutes remaining, Anderson Lopes, who memorably scored four goals at the same venue in a 4-2 win over Selangor earlier in the campaign, would emerge as the match-winner once more -- getting in behind the Persib defence from a long ball over the top -- before clinically slotting past Teja Paku Alam in the bottom corner.
The Saillors did have to survive a nervous ending to the contest before holding out for the 3-2 victory with goalkeeper Ivan Sušak required to make an important save - not his only one throughout the 90 minutes -- from Uilliam Barros to preserve his team's advantage, while they also had Hami Syahin to thank earlier in the contest for a crucial goal-line clearance to keep out a Júlio César header.
So, despite riding their luck, the Sailors were able to claim the crucial three points they needed to keep their dream alive -- having entered the contest knowing anything less would have seen them either virtually, or certainly, eliminated.
With one match left to play in the group stage, what do the Sailors -- who currently sit third in Group G on seven points -- now need to advance to the knockout round for the second season running?
Firstly, they simply must win on Dec. 10 -- away to bottom side and already-eliminated Selangor, who only picked up their first point of the campaign on Wednesday.
Victory would take the Singapore Premier League champions' tally to ten points and then, as long as they keep up their end of the bargain, it gets pretty straightforward.
With Wednesday's win, which came after a campaign-opening 1-1 draw in Bandung, the Sailors boast a superior head-to-head record over Persib.
That is not the case with Bangkok United, who they suffered two defeats against -- with the Thai League 1 outfit already through even though they currently lie in second spot as there is no way they can drop out of the top two.
Simply put, the Sailors must win and need Persib to lose to Bangkok United at home in a fortnight. That will result in a tie with the Super League champions, where -- as mentioned before -- they will progress given their head-to-head results.
In the event Persib win or draw, they will surpass the ten-point mark which is the maximum the Sailors can reach and join Bangkok United in the last 16, inflicting a premature exit on last season's ACL Two fairy-tale runners-up in the process.