Melbourne Victory skipper Kevin Muscat buried his grand final penalty demons and restored some respectability to his side’s Asian Champions League campaign in a 1-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale on Wednesday night.

On the same ground he missed a spot-kick in the Victory’s A-League grand final penalty shootout loss to Sydney FC 10 days earlier, Muscat slotted home the Victory’s second-half winner against the Japanese side at Docklands.

Victory goalkeeper Mitch Langerak was outstanding for his side, pulling off four vital saves to deny the wasteful visitors.

They included a reflex save from a deflected shot in the dying seconds to maintain his side’s lead.

Melbourne had lost its opening three matches in the ACL, including a 4-0 hammering by Kawasaki in Japan last week.

But they were far more lively on home soil, though Kawasaki had more than enough chances to win the game.

The match turned on a 60th minute decision by Iranian referee Saeid Mozaffari Zadeh to award a dubious penalty to Melbourne.

Striker Robbie Kruse went to ground under a light challenge from Kawasaki defender Takanobu Komiyama, which replays showed was well outside the area regardless of the level of contact.

But Muscat stepped up and put away the penalty, easing a little of the disappointment from his rare miss in the grand final.

The Victory will need all other results in the ACL to go their way to have any hope of making the top two and advancing to the second stage of the competition.

Victory coach Ernie Merrick was full of praise for Langerak’s performance, as well as the courage of Muscat to step up and take the match-winning penalty.

Muscat was missing for the 4-0 defeat in Japan, but his physical presence certainly aided his side in the return game.

“His pre-match speech before the boys went out was first-class, and the boys keep stepping up when he asks them to,” Merrick said.

“He was pretty keen to take that penalty and score, and he did it.

“It was a faultless penalty, first-class penalty, and it was under pressure. I think it was good for Kevin.”

Kawasaki coach Tsutomu Takahata believed his side was feeling the effects of a short turnaround from a weekend match, then the long trip to Melbourne.

“I think the players did well considering the long distance of travel. But I felt Melbourne’s energy was better than their energy in their away mission last time,” he said.

The Victory’s next match is a home clash with China’s Beijing Guoan on April 14.

South Koreans motoring

Seongnam Ilhwa meanwhile has powered into the last 16, maintaining its unbeaten record in Group E with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Guoan in the Chinese capital, with Colombian Mauricio Molina getting the decisive goal with 16 minutes remaining.

Seongnam and fellow South Korean side Suwon Bluewings progressed and Japan’s Gamba Osaka took a giant step towards joining them.

Suwon made the grade by beating China’s Henan Jianye 2-0, with a first-half strike by Brazilian Jose Mota and a second in the dying minutes from Kim Dae-Eui enough to secure its passage from Group G.

It gives Korea three teams in the knockout rounds after Jeonbuk Motors qualified yesterday alongside Japan’s Kashima Antlers.

The fourth Korean club, defending champions Pohang Steelers, are well placed to make it four-out-of-four.

J-League stalwart Gamba, the 2008 Asian champion, inched closer to progressing with a convincing 3-0 win over Singapore Armed Forces, whose campaign ended with just one point from four games.

In Group A, Iranian side Esteghlal came away with a superb 1-1 draw against Al Gharafa in Doha which saw the visitor retain its one-point advantage over its rival.

However, Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia is breathing down its neck after doing the double over United Arab Emirates side Al Jazira, as a brace by Victor de Oliveira saw Al Ahli move onto six points, just two adrift of the leader.

On a good day for Iranian sides Sepahan, beaten finalist in the 2007 AFC Champions League, defeated Uzbekistan Cup winner Pakhtakor 2-0 in the Iranian city of Esfahan, which saw it reduce the gap between the two sides to just a point.

Sepahan won the match with two goals in two minutes of the second-half as Senegalese striker Ibrahima Toure opened the scoring in the 74th minute and Iranian international defender Bengar Mohsen added the second a minute later.

The last match of the day’s entertainment saw Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab go top by a point from Pakhtakor after it prevailed 3-2 at home to the winner of the inaugural AFC Champions League Al Ain.

Melbourne Victory: 1 (Muscat 59′)

Kawasaki Frontale: 0

- AAP/AFP