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The visitors took a surprise lead in the 22nd minute as a Mario Durovski corner evaded everyone to find the back of the net before a spirited Victory comeback courtesy of goals to James Troisi and Leigh Broxham.
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The city of Geelong got their chance to host top flight Asian Football with a modest crowd of 8,304 turning up to see Victory book their spot in the ACL for the fourth time.
Despite dominating the early exchanges, that statistic looked as though it wouldn’t happen with the visitors sticking it to the Victory for the entire 90 minutes.
Muangthong understandably struggled in the opening stages of the match with the Thai league yet to commence.
Early sights on goal from Tom Rogic and James Troisi on more than one occasion meant little as Muangthong hit the lead in the 22nd minute as Macedonian import Durovski bypassed the help of his team mates to score by himself from the corner.
Muangthong looked to double their advantage, looking the stronger of the teams after taking the lead.
Durovski and Thailand international Teerasil Dangda troubled the Victory defence all night with the two causing havoc in the final third.
The home side looked to have been given a lifeline as Archie Thompson was taken down in the penalty box in first half extra time with referee Masaaki Toma immediately pointing to the spot.
That wasn’t the case as Mark Milligan could only send his tame penalty attempt to ‘keeper Visanusak Kaewruang to deny Victory an equaliser.
With the penalty miss and seemingly brick wall in goal of Kaewruang to deal with, it looked as though the Victory’s ACL campaign would end before it even began as they were denied going forward time and time again by a well organised Muangthong side.
The breakthrough finally came for the home side in the 57th minute as Troisi finally got on the score sheet as he headed home an inch perfect Scottt Galloway cross.
Troisi was all by himself inside the box to finally get the better of Kaewruang to level the scores with the goal having more than a hint of being offside to it.
As the match drew to a close and Extra Time looking imminent, Victory charged forward with every opportunity in order to avoid another 30 minutes of football.
The winner came through an unlikely source with midfielder Leigh Broxham giving the Victory the lead thanks to a long distance shot that took a decent deflection to find its way to the back of the net.
It was an extremely fiery affair with tackles flying in all night from both sides. With a major prize at stake neither side gave an inch away in hot was a hugely contested match.
Muangthong captain Datsakorn Thonglao took this too far in the final stages of the match however as he was shown a straight red for a head-butt on the Victory goal scorer Broxham.
That moment all but ended the contest with the Victory running down the clock to record a hard earned win.
Victory now find themselves in an incredibly difficult group with Asian powerhouses including current ACL champions Guangzhou Evergrande (China), one-time winner Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (South Korea) and Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan) to deal with as they look to make it out of the group stages for the first time.
It’s a challenge Victory manager Kevin Muscat relishes, however, as he looks to prove himself as a coach on the continental stage.
“I’m happy we’ve got some good teams to play against because it will test us," Muscat said.
“We’ll go there and maybe for once we’ll have nothing to lose because it just seems that at this football club that every game is a massive game for us, and nothing’s going to change in the Champions League.
“We want to compete on that stage in Asia.”
This match was the first competitive game the Victory have played in Geelong and the locals were treated to a cracking match of football.
Victory entertained the crowd with some great attacking play that went without reward on plenty of occasions.
Muangthong United gave a terrific account of themselves, coming very close on causing a major upset over their much more fancied opponents.
The Victory now have the fun Asia’s top club competition has to offer over the coming months awaiting them at the same time they look to reach the pinnacle of Australian football once again.
Melbourne Victory: Nathan Coe (GK), Scott Galloway, Pablo Contreras, Nick Ansell, Adama Traore, Mark Milligan (c), Broxham Tom Rogic, James Troisi, Kosta Barbarouses, Archie Thompson
Subs used: Andrew Nabbout
Muangthing United: Tossapol Lated, Piyaphon Buntag, Datsakorn Thonglao (c), Teerasil Dangda, Inyin Anuwat, Mario Durovski, Milan Bubalo, Thitipan Puangchan, Suriya Singmui, Sarawut Masuk, Witsanusak Kaewruang (GK)
Subs used: Jay Bothroyd, Wuttichai Tathong, Pairote Sokam