"I'm really happy we were able to win. We knew it was going to be difficult but we played as a team,” said the forward, who was named Player of Match.

“We had very good training sessions this week, and I'm glad I could contribute to the team. We'll keep preparing ourselves for the upcoming games.”

The Brazilian’s performance drew praise from head coach Toru Oniki, who also singled out goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong’s contributions.

“I would like to thank everyone, our fans and Marcinho, who helped us a lot,” said Oniki. “Tonight's game was very important, especially Marcinho's contribution. I believe we were able to play as we wanted and our plan is to continue playing like this.

"Without the goalkeeper, we wouldn’t have been able to win today. His calmness provided stability to the team, and he contributed in many different ways. His attitude instills confidence in the other players."

Shandong head coach Tang Tian acknowledged the lack of quality in his team’s performance and vowed to return stronger for the remaining two fixtures.

"The score reflects the gap between the two teams. However, we have two months to adjust and improve our performance,” said Tang, whose side take on Korea Republic's Gwangju FC when the competition resumes in February.

“Our journey is not over yet, and we aim to use this time to deliver a better performance in the next two games. Our goal is to make the top eight and qualify for the knockout stage."