"Today was a very difficult game. Congratulations to my players for the victory and we thank the Ulsan fans,” said Kim. “We had a difficult first half and had a bad start but in the second half, we fought back through hard work. I am proud of my players' performance."

The fightback started in the 58th minute when Yago Cariello converted from 12 yards after he had been fouled with Kang Min-woo’s header eight minutes later giving Ulsan a win that just about kept them in the race for a knockout stage spot..

Shenhua put Ulsan under pressure for the remainder of the match with goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo needing to make numerous saves to ensure the points went the way of the two-time Asian champions. 

Kim applauded Jo and the defenders as they repelled everything that Shenhua threw at them.

“We have reached the last game of this season. We are facing many difficulties, many injuries and only 14 players can play. 

“We conceded first, but we created many opportunities and overturned the score. Special praise goes to our goalkeeper and central defenders who performed very well. I hope we can have the same performance as today in the next two group matches,” Kim added.

Despite the victory, qualification is out of Ulsan’s hands as they will need to win their remaining two matches when the competition resumes in February and hope results elsewhere go in their favour.