Kewell was impressive throughout the contest where he matched up against fellow returning Roo Brett Emerton, who saw a first-half penalty saved.

Victory's marquee man had his chances throughout the contest including a header which was well saved by Sky Blues keeper Liam Reddy on the stroke of half-time, along with two long-range second-half efforts which narrowly missed the target.

After the game, Kewell told Fox Sports: “I thought we had the better chances. Obviously they had the penalty, but I thought we created a lot more chances.

“It's disappointing, we wanted to get off to great start especially in front of a crowd like this.”

However, Kewell added he thoroughly enjoyed the contest and said it was everything he asked for.

“Perfect. Exactly what I asked for. It was physical, attack after attack, I'm just looking forward to the next game now,” he said.

“It's always good to get the first game over and done with. That's done now. Again, disappointed (by the result) but I'm looking forward to the next game.”

The former Leeds United and Liverpool man played the entire 90 minutes for Victory despite question marks over his fitness and said he was feeling good after the game.

“I'm feeling great. I was feeling a little bit tight towards the end there, it just shows how tough and furious the game was,” he said.

Meanwhile, Emerton conceded he was shattered to miss the first-half spotkick but wasn't beating himself up over the miss and said he hoped to nail the next one.

“Obviously it was disappointing but someone has to take responsibility,” Emerton said.

“I should've done better, but I'll put it behind me and hopefully score the next one.”

Emerton added he felt the goallesss draw was a good result for the Sky Blues despite the team having a number of chances to score throughout the game.

“Before the game started Melbourne were favourites and they were at home, so to come away with a draw was a good result,” he said.

“The team performance was very good today. All the boys can be happy with the effort they put in.

“If we continue to play like that, we should have a good season.”

Emerton was subject to some less than friendly chants as well from the home fans but said that was part and parcel of football.

“That's fair enough. I'm sure when I go to all the away grounds there will be a bit of abuse thrown at me but I can deal with that,” Emerton said.