KAWASAKI (Kyodo) Kawasaki Frontale survived the dismissal of North Korean striker Chong Tese and got their Asian Champions League campaign up and running with a 4-0 win over Melbourne Victory on Tuesday.
Still licking their wounds after a painful 4-0 loss to Yokohama F. Marinos at the weekend, Kawasaki ripped Melbourne to shreds and had the game under control after three goals in the first 22 minutes from Chong, Masaru Kurotsu and Renatinho.
The two-time ACL quarterfinalists had Chong sent off as ugly scenes marred the end of a rain-soaked first half at Todoroki Stadium but stood firm and grabbed a late fourth through Hiroyuki Taniguchi to pick up three priceless points in Group E.
"The players did well to get us off to a good start playing our brand of soccer," said Kawasaki manager Tsutomu Takahata.
"We are still in with a chance of qualifying and hopefully we can bring back three points from our next game (away to Melbourne next week)," he said.