Kashiwa Reysol produced the J. League’s first win of the Asian Champions League this season with a 5-1 rout of Vietnamese champion Binh Duong on Tuesday.

Former Japan forward Masato Kudo led the way with a brace that earned him man-of-the-match honors for Reysol, who went top of Group E on four points from two games ahead of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

Kim Chang-soo and captain Hidekazu Otani also scored for Tatsuma Yoshida’s side, which was aided by an own goal and will face Vissel Kobe away in its J. League opener on Saturday.

In Group F, Gamba dropped their second straight, losing 2-0 away to Seongnam FC. On Wednesday, Urawa Reds are at home to Brisbane Roar in Group G, while Kashima Antlers are at FC Seoul in Group H.

“First and foremost, we took all three points today which we were set on doing,” Kudo said. “The atmosphere in the team is good right now. We were expecting to control the game and we did.

“We played with three strikers today and I thought it worked. We should keep seeing opportunities in our next game, and I want to keep on scoring.”

No Vietnam club has ever beaten a J. League team in eight ACL games.

“We knew we were the weaker side. We tried, but just didn’t have chances,” Binh Duong coach Nguyen Thanh Son said. “After we conceded with three minutes left in the first half, the pressure became too big for us to handle.”

Kashiwa was the only Japanese side out of four to pick up a point last week when the competition got underway, drawing 0-0 away to Jeonbuk. Jeonbuk on Tuesday won 4-1 at Shandong Luneng.

The hosts tried to blitz Binh Duong from the start, trying to put the game to bed early. But Binh Duong would not give in, and created the first shot on target by either side in the 39th minute when Le Cong Vinh forced a reflex save from Takanori Sugeno.

Reysol, though, eventually reached the scoreboard after 42 minutes as Kudo took advantage of some lax defending by the visitors, slotting home Cristiano’s low cross from the right wing.

Binh Duong dug themselves further into a ditch two minutes later, when defender David Vrankovic head-cleared into his own net from another Cristiano cross to hand the home side a two-goal halftime lead.

Kashiwa killed off the contest four minutes to the hour thanks to Kim, who netted from Akimi Barada’s through ball. Kudo headed in his second of the evening in the 67th minute from a corner before Otani got in on the action eight minutes later, burying Reysol’s fifth from the edge of the box.

Ganiyu Oseni scored a consolation for Binh Duong in the 82nd minute.

“We made the point we won in South Korea off Jeonbuk — our biggest rivals in the group — count by winning three points today,” first-year manager Yoshida said. “The players demonstrated a lot of courage in the game.”

Reysol’s Yuki Otsu said, “We’ve got the J. League now this weekend and I hope we can keep rolling. It doesn’t matter who plays for us, we can perform.”