“It's painful for me to not be able to win after announcing my retirement,” said Oniki. “I've had a string of games where we haven't won even though we've been playing with passion, so I'm really happy about today's win.

“We really needed these three points today. We started really aggressively and the players showed hunger. In the second half, we took a risk. If we could have scored one from a counter attack, it may have made it an easier finish for us."

“With regards to the ACL, I feel a sense of mission that we have to carry us over to next year in a good way. 

“I really communicated that to the players in our meetings yesterday and today, and today's victory came despite us talking about how we ourselves need to get more serious about it. I'm happy that that was evident from the start, and that they were passionate about it.”

Two goals in two minutes from Akihiro Ienaga and Yusuke Segawa put Frontale in charge with a third from Sai van Wermeskerken before half-time effectively killing the tie as a contest despite Port’s improvements in the second half.

It was a notion that was shared by Port head coach Kevin Muscat as the Australian bemoaned the lack of competitiveness shown by his charges in the opening 45 minutes that curtailed their hopes of getting something from the match.

“After the weekend we had, this was deflating and disappointing, particularly the first half,” said Muscat.

“Mentally we weren’t competitive enough and conceded goals very quickly. In the second half, we showed that we can play and we are a good team but just disappointing that we couldn’t play that way the whole game. Now we have to rest and prepare for the cup final.”

Frontale and Port are still in sight of the qualifying spots for the knockout stage and will have an opportunity to cement their positions on November 26 when they face Thailand’s Buriram United and Ulsan HD FC of Korea Republic respectively.