Aaron Mooy's second-half penalty proved to be enough for Melbourne City to see off Brisbane Roar 1-0 at AAMI Park to kickstart their A-League season.
Damien Duff picked out Jacob Melling for the first chance of the game early on, but the youngster's strike was deflected wide for a corner.
In what was an evenly-balanced first half, Matt McKay saw his strike come back off the crossbar following a quick Roar counter, while Erik Paartalu nodded Mooy's cross narrowly wide of goal.
Four minutes after the interval came the deciding moment of the clash as Mate Dugandzic was brought down inside the area, which allowed Mooy to convert from the spot for his first goal in a City shirt.
David Williams squandered a big chance to double his side's advantage after seeing the ball cut back into his path by Dugandzic shortly before the hour, and James Brown failed to get the better of Jamie Young when played through on goal shortly after.
In the end it did not matter, though, with Melbourne doing enough to see out the contest to claim their second win of the campaign and climb up to sixth place in the A-League ladder in the process.
