Melbourne Victory skipper Kevin Muscat has come to the rescue of Melbourne Victory by scoring a 60th minute penalty to restore some respectability to his side’s Asian Champions League campaign in a 1-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale.

On the same ground he missed a spot-kick in Victory’s A-League grand final penalty shootout loss to Sydney FC 10 days earlier, Muscat slotted home Victory’s second-half winner against the Japanese side at Etihad Stadium.

Victory goalkeeper Mitch Langerak was outstanding for his side – pulling off four vital saves to deny the wasteful visitors.

They included a reflex save from a deflected shot in the dying seconds to maintain his side’s lead.

The match turned on a 60th minute decision by Iranian referee Saeid Mozaffari Zadeh to award a dubious penalty to Melbourne.

Striker Robbie Kruse went to ground under a light challenge from Kawasaki defender Takanobu Komiyama, which replays showed was well outside the area regardless of the level of contact.

But Muscat stepped up and put away the penalty, easing a little of the disappointment from his rare miss in the grand final.

Victory will need all other results in the ACL to go its way to have any hope of making the top two and advancing to the second stage of the competition.