Goals either side of half-time from Kevin Muscat and Rodrigo Vargas proved to be enough for Melbourne to secure the three points in front of a home crowd of 23,656.

New signing Billy Celeski was outstanding on debut for Melbourne, adding much needed width while constantly terrorising the defence with his crossing ability.

The contest proved to be a comfortable introduction to Asian football for Melbourne, controlling possession for much of the contest, starving the Dragons of any time on the ball.

Melbourne's new found patience and ability to attack from wide areas is likely to hold the team in good stead given the low tempo nature of the continental game.

Within the first minute, the Dragons were presented with a golden chance to open the scoring after Kevin Muscat pulled down attacker Victor Simoes on the edge of the penalty area.

A poor turnover in defence provided Melbourne with an opportunity to launch their first attacking thrust, with Matthew Kemp releasing the departing Adrian Caceres on the left flank.

The Argentinean-born wingman burst down the sideline, cutting inside the area before playing a marvellous ball behind the Chunnam backline which narrowly evaded Archie Thompson.

Touted prior to the match by Dragons coach Hang Seo Park as the man to watch, Thompson looked at his menacing best, challenging the Chunnam rearguard with his darting runs and turn of pace.

Melbourne almost snatched an opening goal in the 14th minute when an Adrian Caceres free-kick was diverted goalwards by Sangil Lee, but keeper Dong-Gyun Yeom was up to the task, diving low to save his teams blushes.

Soon after, an audacious strike by Nick Ward almost caught Jung off his line, when an attempted headed clearance by the Dragons custodian was intercepted only 30 yards from goal.

Missing three first team internationals through injury, the reigning Korean FA Cup winners lacked cohesion in midfield, fielding a defensive formation which didn't provide much scope for attack. Centre forward Victor was the offensive threat, but he was largely nullified by a tremendous Vargas.

But in a rare foray forward, the Dragons came agonisingly close to securing a scarcely deserved lead, as a magnificent Kwan-Sik Lim through-pass sent Victor in on goal before the Brazilian was denied by a stunning save from A-League Goalkeeper of the Year, Michael Theoklitos.

However, that Dragons reprieve proved to be short-lived as Melbourne were awarded a penalty in the 27th minute after In-Hwan Jung felled Matthew Kemp in the penalty area with a reckless late challenge.

Captain Kevin Muscat duly converted the spot-kick, scoring his 17th penalty in succession for Melbourne.

Rattled by the goal, the Dragons struggled to regain their composure, turning the ball over regularly while failing to deal adequately with the Melbourne attacking threat

A blistering Allsopp drive was parried wide by Jung in the 34th minute, before minutes later, the bullocking striker turned provider, releasing Thompson only for the Socceroo to squander a stunning one-on-one chance.

Just before half-time, Thompson forced a great save from Yeom after a well-weighted cross by Adrian Caceres, as Victory headed into the break holding the ascendency.

Melbourne commenced the second period in the same vein as the first, dictating the tempo with metronomic consistency, displaying a composure and patience which was seldom seen throughout the regular A-League season.

Often the target of criticism from Victory faithful, Matthew Kemp produced an impressive display, repeatedly rounding the opposition winger before venturing into attacking territory.

On occasion however, the former Adelaide player was let down by his final distribution, mis-hitting a number of passes.

Victory soon scored the goal their dominance deserved in the 65th minute, as an unmarked Rodrigo Vargas casually nodded home a Celeski cross.

The scoreline should have read 3-0 after 75 minutes, but the referee incorrectly ruled Allsopp offside after he received a through ball from Celeski.

With little time remaining, Chunnam were denied a certain penalty by the Singaporean official, when Vargas hacked Sandro down in the area with a blatant two-footed tackle.

Bizarrely though, while Vargas was lucky to escape without a red card, Sandro was punished for simulation and handed a yellow card, serving an ominous warning to the home team regarding the inconsistant and sometimes dumbfounding nature of Asian officiating.