Sanfrecce took possession from the start with Lion City suffering an early blow when Maxime Lestienne was stretchered off after clashing with Sho Sasaki. Shawal Anuar, who already has seven goals in this campaign, stepped in for the midfielder.

The Singapore side, however, had the first clear look at goal when play resumed when Lennart Thy’s header from the centre of the box went just over the bar.

The German made amends in the 20th minute, however, when he picked up on a brilliant piece of footwork from Shawal, went down the centre and sent the ball to the left of a diving Keisuke Osako.

Shuto Nakano had a chance to equalise in the 28th minute but his thundering shot from inside the 18-yard box was punched out by Lion City keeper Izwan Mahbud.

Sanfrecce made no mistake six minutes later when Yotaro Nakajima’s free-kick from just outside the 18-yard box went over the wall and curled past a rooted Mahbud into the bottom left of the net.

The goal galvanised Michael Skibbe’s men, with striker Mutsuki Kato in the thick of action in the 38th minute with a flurry of shots that were blocked by the Lion City defence. He also saw his overhead kick from outside the six-yard box saved by custodian Mahbud two minutes before the break.

Sanfrecce’s hopes were dented when Ryo Germain was sent off six minutes after the restart for swinging his arm at Bailey Wright.

To their credit, however, the Japanese side pushed forward and dominated on the ball, with Kato and Nakajima leading the charge on their opponents’ goal.

Kato had a golden opportunity in the 82nd minute to put his side in front but mistimed his kick with only Mahbud to beat. Naoto Arai then saw his shot rattle the right post in the 89th minute, but their persistence came to naught as Lion City sailed into the semi-finals.