The visitors made a decent early opening when Igor Sartori’s low cross from the left found Sandro, but the striker couldn’t keep his shot down.

Hirokane Harima then had a good chance for the home side after a through pass from Jordi Tarres. But the striker’s tame effort lacked conviction and it was comfortably saved by Tai Po goalkeeper Tsang Man Fai.

The visitors started the game on the front foot and Won Song’s spectacular curling effort from 20 yards brought out a flying save from Huang Chiu-Lin after 14 minutes.

Some determined defensive blocks kept 4.25 SC out on several occasions but the opening goal looked a matter of time as the Koreans continued to dominate.

With two points separating the two teams after the first two matches, the home side made the perfect start when Spaniard Marañon headed home from Martin Steuble’s inch perfect cross in just the ninth minute.

With neither side having registered a win in the first two matches, it was close enough to last chance saloon for both sides if they were to have any chance of progressing from Group G.

It was the home side who had the first chance of the game but Maycon couldn’t get the better of Binh Duong goalkeeper Tran Duc Cuong.

Nguyen Thanh Son's side then had a great chance after 16 minutes, but despite being played into space on the right-hand side, To Van Vu couldn’t direct his shot on target and the ball flashed across the front of goal and away from danger.

The Nepalese side were playing in the AFC Cup for the first time, in fact it was the first time a Nepalese side had participated in the group stage of the AFC Cup, and they started brightly in front of a vocal home crowd at the ANFA Complex.

It was Chhiring Lopsang Gurung’s side who had the first chance of the game, but Bishal Rai saw his effort easily saved by Shahidul Alam.

Having picked up just one point from two games in their first appearance in the competition since 2015, anything but a win would have left qualification to the knockout rounds unlikely, but in the end they got their just rewards for a dominant display.

Having made the ASEAN Zonal Final for the last two years, the Protectors were confident of another good showing in the AFC Cup, but without a win after their first two games they were desperate to get back on the winners’ list to get their campaign back on track.

They were made to work hard for their 1-0 win, but Qaiyyim’s header in first half stoppage time was enough to seal all three points.