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Back-to-back AFC Cup champions Al Faisaly claimed a 2-0 victory over Lebanese league champions Al Ansar despite playing with 10 men for more than an hour of their Group C match at Beirut Sports City Stadium on Tuesday.

Al Faisaly climbed to the top of the group after the win and they opened the scoring through Moayad Mansour before Anas Hijah secured the three points.

The defending champions did not wait long to signal their intent, threatening Ziad Al Samad's goal after only seven minutes when Moayad Abukeshek beat Al Ansar's Iraqi defender Saad Hafez before blasting a powerful shot over the bar.

However, Al Faisaly only had to wait another seven minutes before opening the scoring when Siraj Al Tall headed the ball into the path of Mansour, who steered his shot beyond Al Samad.

The Jordanian side's joy was soured in the 28th minute when defender Khaled Nemer picked up his second booking of the game for a nasty foul on Al Ansar striker Fadi Ghosson, leaving Al Faisaly to defend their lead with just 10 men.

Despite having a man extra, Al Ansar were unable to press home the advantage.

Iraqi midfielder Saleh Sair's free kick was saved by Al Faisaly goalkeeper Lo'ai Al Amaireh in the 42nd minute and just two minutes later Malek Hassoun's shot sailed over the bar.

After the restart, Al Ansar were the better side and they could have levelled the scores just five minutes into the second half when Sadir passed to his compatriot Ahmed Abbas only for Khaled Saed to block the Iraqi's effort in front of goal.

Sadir again tested the Al Faisaly defence in the 64th minute when he raced into the penalty area, but again Al Amaireh saved before Ghosson sent the rebound over the bar.

The home side were left to rue those missed chances a minute later when Al Faisaly doubled their advantage through their midfielder Hijah, who received a pass from Qusai Alieh from the left flank before slotting the ball past Al Samad.

And Al Faisaly almost added a third in the dying minutes of the game when Qusai Alieh's long-range effort slammed against the right post of Al Samad's goal.

Al Ansar coach Jamal Taha labelled the performance of his side as the "worst this year" after the defeat.

"It was our worst performance this year and we didn't take advantage of our numerical advantage,” lamented Taha.

“Al Faisaly knew how to deal with the game especially after they were reduced to 10 men. Our players missed a lot of chances to score and we were affected with the wet pitch and we couldn't score. I hope that we can get back from this defeat in the forthcoming matches."

Al Faisaly coach Adnan Hamad said: "I was in a difficult situation because I didn't want either team to lose because I was the coach of Al Ansar last year. We were affected a lot by the red card of Khaled Nemer but our players knew how to deal with it.”