Macarthur took the lead in the opening exchanges when Harry Sawyer brushed aside Bai Yang on the right side to deliver a cross that skipped through to Ikonomidis and the forward confidently dispatched his finish past Nureli Abbas.

Beijing almost responded 10 minutes later when Zhang Yuning sought to punish a heavy first touch by Filip Kurto but the Macarthur goalkeeper narrowly avoided embarrassment to thump the ball clear under intense pressure from the China PR international.

Michael Ngadeu’s pass from deep released Li Lei in the Macarthur penalty area but the fullback underhit shot was gathered at the second attempt by Kurto as Beijing continued to probe for the equaliser.

But instead of Beijing pulling level it was the home side who doubled their lead 13 minutes into the second half.

Macarthur captain Luke Brattan fed the ball down the right flank to Oliver Randazzo and he cut inside Chi Zhongguo to deliver an inviting left-foot cross into the six yard box that Uskok happily stabbed home.

Fabio Abreu headed Zhang Xizhe’s corner over the bar soon after the midway point in the second half while Guga Rodriguez was narrowly wide of the target with his attempt from outside the area in the 72nd minute.

The result was put beyond any doubt in the 89th minute when Ikonomidis was released down the left side and he played in substitute Grzan, who rounded the goalkeeper before slotting in from a tight angle.