South Korean club Suwon Samsung Bluewings defeated Gamba Osaka 2-1 Tuesday to stay alive in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League.

Another South Korean side, Pohang Steelers, lost to Guangzhou Evergrande 2-0 to drop to last place in their group, their hopes of reaching the knockout stage fading.

At Suita City Football Stadium in Osaka, Brazilian forward Santos scored twice in the second half for Suwon, who survived a nervy finish for their first victory in Group G. Goalkeeper No Dong-geon stopped a first-half penalty to help Suwon end the winless string of three draws and a loss.

Suwon remain in third place in the group, behind Shanghai SIPG with 12 points and Melbourne Victory with six points. Shanghai defeated Melbourne 3-1 Tuesday. Suwon and Melbourne are actually tied in points, but Melbourne hold the tiebreaker, having scored one more away goal than the South Korean side in their two meetings.

Suwon will host Shanghai on May 3 for the final group match. Suwon will qualify for the round of 16 with either the combination of their victory and a draw or loss by Melbourne against Gamba Osaka, or their draw and a Melbourne loss.

Suwon controlled the ball in the early moments, with Santos and Yang Sang-min both missing their target 17 minutes in. In the 21st, midfielder Kwon Chang-hoon had his shot blocked by a Gamba Osaka defender, and six minutes later Kim Kun-hee's header went off target.

The pendulum quickly swung the other way when Gamba Osaka were awarded a penalty in the 36th minute because Suwon's Yeom Ki-hun took down Daiki Niwa in the area.

Takashi Usami stepped up to take the shot, but No Dong-geon denied him to keep the match scoreless.

Santos finally broke the deadlock in the 49th minute. He took a feed from Kim Gun-hee and penetrated deep into the box before firing one past goalkeeper Masaaki Higashiguchi.

Suwon caught a break in the 56th. Osaka defender Yasuyuki Konno appeared to be just outside the box when the ball went off his arm, but referee Ali Hasan Ebrahim Abdulnabi still called the penalty on him and awarded Suwon a penalty.

Santos then converted the chance to his second goal of the night.

Baek Ji-hoon nearly gave Suwon a three-goal advantage, but missed the right post on an open chance in the 61st. In the 79th Yeom Ki-hun got a shot off on a breakaway, but Higashiguchi came up with a big save to keep his club in the game.

Konno got his redemption with a goal in the 89th that cut the deficit in half, but that was as close as Osaka would get on this night.

Suwon outshot Osaka 15-4.

Elsewhere, Pohang lost to Guangzhou 2-0 in Group H at Pohang Steel Yard in Pohang, 360 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The hosts gave up the first goal in the 33rd minute and conceded another at the start of the second half to fall to last place in their group.

Pohang have one win, one draw and three losses for four points with one match remaining, and they've scored just once so far.

If the Urawa Red Diamonds, second in the group, manage a win or a draw against first-place Sydney FC Wednesday, then Pohang will be eliminated from the competition.

Pohang can only advance if they beat Urawa in the group finale on the road on May 3, and if Sydney beat Urawa and avoid a loss to Guangzhou in their last two matches.

Guangzhou, the 2013 and 2015 champions, can still reach the knockout stage after moving to five points.

In Pohang, both teams entered the match without key players. Pohang midfielder Son Jun-ho and goalkeeper Shin Hwa-yong were absent due to injuries, while Colombian international striker Jackson Martinez, who suffered an ankle injury during the league action last weekend, and suspended captain Zheng Zhi were missing for Guangzhou.

Pohang's Serbian striker Lazar Veselinovic fired a shot in the eighth, but Brazilian midfielder Paulinho launched five shots in the first half-hour to sway the match in Guangzhou's favor.

Guangzhou finally broke through in the 33rd after Ricardo Goulart tapped in Gao Lin's cross from the left side.

Pohang tried to catch up with midfielder Lee Gwang-hyeok's left-foot effort in the 40th, but were lucky to finish the first half down 1-0 when Goulart was ruled offside for his unmarked header in the box.

Pohang tried to battle back in the latter half, but their plan was swiftly ruined in just two minutes as Gao Lin doubled Guangzhou's lead with his left foot converting a Xu Xin pass.

Desperate for a goal, Pohang replaced midfielder Moon Chang-jin with striker Yang Dong-hyun in the 58th, and Yang hit the side of the net three minutes later.

After Goulart left the match in the 53rd with an apparent injury, his substitute Liu Yuanyi led the attack for Guangzhou, putting a couple of shots on the target.

Pohang pushed hard to get back into the game late, but efforts from Yang were off the target, while Lee Gwang-hyeok's shot was saved by Zeng Cheng in the added time. (Yonhap)