Wellington Phoenix began their A-League Men campaign with a 2-1 loss to 10-man Western United on Friday night.
Mexican import Gael Sandoval netted on debut and English star Gary Hooper joined the scoresheet in the first half, helping the Knicks jump the foot of the ladder to a four-match losing streak.
Steven Lustika provided injury time consolation for United, while Tomoki Imai saw a red for a last-man foul on Ben Vine in the 89th minute.
All eyes were on how the teams would end the prolonged COVID-enforced layoff at Win Stadium, with Wellington out of action for 16 days and United back for the first time since Boxing Day.
Phoenix showed his quickness, pouncing on defensive lapses to create a winning buffer.
When United stopper Leo Lacroix's clearing header went nowhere on minute 16, Hopper freed Sandoval in the box to overtake Jamie Young.
On 35 minutes, Alex Ruffer spun Neil Kilkenny with ease, slipping a graceful ball to Hooper in the box.
The ex-Celtic man jiggled his marker, giving himself enough room to take a shot through the legs and mishandled an enraged youngster.
Of Phoenix's two goals, United could claim the best of the first half, with more balls and many more shots.
Repeated attempts by Alessandro Diamanti and a failed attempt by Lachlan Wells were thwarted by goalkeeper Alex Paulsen, who continued his impressive form from the FFA Cup.
The mop-top gloveman made three penalty shootout saves to take Melbourne City out of the cup, and was again on hand to deny Serbian Aleksandar Prijovic, star of the Western, from close quarters.
The second half was easy. Paulson, just 19, didn't need a save until the 84th minute, when he widened a low Christian Theohras effort.
Prijovic hasn't made his progress yet, but on an hour's worth of evidence, Sandoval looks to be a neat addition: whether he reaches the heights of Wellington's first Mexican signing, Johnny Warren medalist Ulysses Davila, remains to be seen. Is.
The Serbian at least made his mark, in an aerial challenge inflicting a wound on the cheek of Louis Fenton, drawing blood and in need of repair.
Imai's indecisiveness, which was upgraded to red after a VAR review, meant United looked limp to the finish line, but Lustica at least put them on the scoresheet after Theohras' good work.
Western are third and look forward to next weekend's derby against Melbourne City, while Wellington are eighth ahead of the FFA Cup semi-final with Melbourne Victory.