Melbourne Victory have quickly bounced back from their Australia Cup defeat to South Melbourne and secured the first win of their Asian Champions League 2 (ACL2) campaign after downing South Korean champions-elect FC Seoul 3-0.
Taking the field at AAMI Park on Wednesday still smarting from their loss to Hellas just four days prior, Victory found the breakthrough through new signing Guillermo May just past the hour mark and then finished over the top with goals from Santos and Jordi Valadon.
It ensures that Giovanni Savarese's side will take momentum into their opening A-League Men fixture away to Wellington on Sunday, as well as keeping them undefeated on the continent after previously drawing 1-1 with Vietnamese side The Cong–Viettel.
Unable to secure a direct flight to Melbourne and potentially able to claim the K1 League title against Gimcheon Sangmu on Sunday, Seoul coach Kim Gi-Dong deployed a heavily rotated side for the trip.
First-choice keeper Gu Sung-Yun, 74-time international Kim Jin-Su and leading scorer Patryk Klimala were among players left at home.
And this lack of top-end talent repeatedly came back to haunt the visitors, as players including Lee Han-Do, Ahn Jae-Min, and Leonardo Ruiz spurned gilt-edged chances over the course of the 90 minutes.
Fielding close to its strongest XI, Victory accumulated control of possession, territory and shots as the game wore on and while proving blunt for the opening hour, they eventually kicked into gear.
Making his first start since joining from A-League Men champions Auckland FC in the off-season, May provided the spark when he turned in a deflected Denis Genreau shot in the 63rd minute, before Genreau sprung Santos through 10 minutes later.
In his first start of the campaign after battling a virus in pre-season, Genreau was again involved in the build-up as Valadon sealed the game in the 84th minute.