Kosuke Taketomi scored twice as Kashiwa Reysol became the first Japanese team to reach the last 16 of this year’s Asian Champions League with a 3-2 win at home to South Korea’s Jeonbuk Motors on Wednesday night.

Eduardo put Kashiwa in front early on, before Taketomi hit his double, but the home side had to withstand a second-half fightback to secure victory and top spot in Group E after Lee Dong Gook scored a pair of beauties for the visitors.

Kashiwa improved to 11 points and maintains its perfect record of qualifying for the knockout stage in the elite continental tournament with a game to spare.

“It was our aim today (to qualify for the next round) so I am glad we won,” said man of the match Taketomi. “We wanted to qualify in the last match but we had our home fans help us do it today.”

“The team carried out the game plan we had discussed before the match, especially in the first half and that was pleasing. It’s nice to score but I wasn’t able to do anything in the second half.”

Reysol, who reached the last 16 in 2012 and made the semifinals in 2013, wrap up the group phase away to Vietnam’s Binh Duong on May 6.

Reysol will finish top of the group even if they lose their last game by virtue of their head-to-head results against Jeonbuk, which has eight points.

“It is a massive deal that we were able to qualify with one game left,” said Kashiwa manager Tatsuma Yoshida. “For us mentally and physically we can use this to our advantage.

“Jeonbuk have not lost in the K-League in 20 something games. We got a feel of what they were about in our last game (a 0-0 draw) and even though we were at home this time we knew how much pressure they would put on us.

“We had four training sessions and these three points and qualifying is the result of all the things we have been chipping away at on the pitch.”

Reysol came into the game on the back of a 3-1 defeat to Kashima Antlers in the J. League last Thursday — their third of the season — and missing Brazilian striker Leandro and South Korean defender Kim Chang-soo through suspension.

But Yoshida’s men got off to a flying start in driving rain at Hitachi Stadium and looked to be home and dry at the interval after a riveting first-half performance.

Eduardo set the wheels in motion after nine minutes, connecting with the hard-working Naoki Wako’s corner from the right and beating Jeonbuk goalkeeper Kwoun Sun-tae with a looping header from 12 meters.

Jeonbuk should have leveled on 16 minutes after a lucky rebound from a clearance fell into Lee’s path, but Takenori Sugeno pulled off a crucial save to deny the striker from point-blank range.

Taketomi grabbed his first of the night on 20 minutes, weaving his way into the box and beating Kwoun with a sweet finish, and Sugeno again did well to keep Jeonbuk out when he tipped a free kick from Leonardo over the crossbar.

Cristiano was a constant thorn in Jeonbuk’s side on the right flank and it was good work from the Brazilian that presented Taketomi with the simplest of finishes to make it 3-0 six minutes before the break.

Lee pulled one back for Jeonbuk with an overhead kick in the 67th minute as the rain continued to pound down and the visitors went close to further reducing the deficit when Edu brought another smart save out of Sugeno.

Lee drilled home a low effort to complete his brace with nine minutes left to ensure a tight finish.

“Things did not go the way we planned and prepared. We conceded earlier than we thought and overall lost our balance and rushed things,” said Jeonbuk manager Choi Kang-hee.

Kashiwa have now won five and drawn one of their meetings with Jeonbuk in the ACL.

“It’s been said a lot that we don’t seem to do well against Kashiwa and that is true,” Choi said. “Today I have reached the conclusion that we never seem to be able to play the way we are capable of against them.”

It was a good night all round for J. League clubs in the ACL as Gamba Osaka kept their hopes of progressing from Group F alive with a 5-0 win away to China’s Guangzhou R&F, Patric and Hiroyuki Abe both scoring twice for the Japanese treble winners.