Adelaide United notched their first Asian Champions League victory with a 2-0 defeat of outmatched Dong Tam Long An in steamy conditions at Long An Stadium in Vietnam on Wednesday night.

After dropping three points at home due to an own goal last week, United had to win to remain in contention for the next phase of the competition, and first half goals to Fernando and Travis Dodd were enough to seal the result.

At 2-0 after half an hour, and with Long An having made scarcely a single attacking thrust, a Reds landslide seemed likely, but the combination of some improved Vietnamese play and the tropical weather left a tiring Adelaide happy simply to leave with the points.

They were also heartened by the 88th minute appearance of left-sided substitute Lucas Pantelis, who ran onto the field for the first time since a knee reconstruction sidelined him from the entire 2006-07 A League season.

Both sides were missing first choice players, United shorn of the services of Ross Aloisi, Jason Spagnuolo, Bobby Petta and Diego through injury, while Dong Tam Long An were missing striker Antonio due to a foot problem.

United had little idea of what to expect from the Vietnamese champions, but it soon became clear that the Reds were a cut above their undersized opponents, even on a spongy pitch and in sticky weather.

Nathan Burns and Fernando both had well-struck free kicks parried away by Brazilian keeper Santos inside the first 10 minutes, and they combined in the 18th for a simple opener.

An outswinging Burns corner curled to Fernando, who nodded in off the far post after the home side had failed to put a player back to defend it.

Bruce Djite and Dodd also created numerous problems for the Vietnamese, Djites one-two with Burns resulting in another decent save from Santos, before Dodd waltzed in to volley home a Matthew Kemp cut back on 30 minutes.

Long An coach Henrique Calisto responded by sending on defender Thai Duong in an effort to stem the flow, and the locals managed to win a pair of corners before the break.

They fought out the second half better too, Phan Van Tai Em forcing a fine save from Daniel Beltrame with a rasping shot from a squared ball.

United's opportunities were reduced to a trickle after the first half flood, and Long An occasionally threatened to break through via Congolese centre forward Kabanga Tshamala.

Reds coach Aurelio Vidmar said he was not entirely happy with the second half but gave his players credit for slogging through unfamiliar conditions."It was important for us and the players to get a win in this league and realise we belonged, I thought the first half was excellent but we dropped off a bit after that," he said."The grass was really thick and not something the players are used to, and it was extremely humid, muggy and uncomfortable, so it was a valuable experience for the guys."

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