Leandro opened the scoring after 20 minutes before Yasuhito Endo's 72nd-minute penalty and a fine finish from substitute Hayato Sasaki secured the points as the hosts largely dominated the Chinese Super League champions.

"As we knew that Shandong have good individual skills, we pressurised them continually to deny them space to play," Nishino said.

"We were hoping to make a good start with our first game at home in the ACL and I think we played a good football throughout the game. More than anything, the results do count."

Shandong manager Ljubisa Tumbakovic conceded his side had been outclassed.

"The 3-0 results indicated the ability gap between the two sides. We knew Gamba's strong points but they controlled the game for most of the time.

"We focused on defence in the first-half and I think we played better in the second-half. But we lost."

Nagoya Grampus came from a goal down to win their first-ever Asian Champions League game 3-1 at Ulsan Hyundai thanks to second-half headers from Maya Yoshida, Davi and Magnum and coach Dragan Stojkovic was delighted with the resilience his side displayed.

"I think that we played very well in the second-half and I think that absolutely we deserved to win," said the former AC Milan star.

"We came out for the first 20 minutes and played our game, then it seemed we fell apart and couldn't do anything right."

However, he was keen to play down the significance of the victory.

"This win is great for myself and my team but there is a long way to go in our journey to be the champions of Asia and this is just the first step," he added.

Ulsan coach Kim Ho-gon lamented his side's inabiltiy to keep hold of their lead.

"I knew it was going to be difficult, we put ourselves in the position that we needed with the opening goal but then just couldn't hold on and do the basics you need to win a game," he said.

"It is, however ,the top two teams of each group that will move on and even though we have an undesirable start, we will fight to move on."

Newcastle Jets' first game in the competition ended in defeat as goals from Ryan Griffiths and Du Wenhui, who was set-up by Joel Griffiths - on loan from the Jets - sealed a 2-0 victory for Beijing Guoan.

However, coach Gary von Egmond still drew positives from the performance.

"We can take a lot of heart out of this game," he concluded.

"Overall we're happy with regards to the effort and performance and some football out there was good. I've learnt more about our football team as well, as I'm sure Beijing have learnt about theirs.

"The first thirty minutes I thought Beijing totally dominated the game. Their number seven (Wang Changqing) was playing very well and causing us problems."

Beijing Guoan chief Lee Jang-soo was happy to kick-off with a win but is hoping to see a more ruthless approach from his side as the competition wears on.

"The first game in any competition always will be the most important. The result is in our favour and I am satisfied with that," he said.

"However in the second-half, the team wanted to conserve our one goal advantage but I don't think that's a very good attitude. In future games we should resolve this weakness."