Having defeated their visitors by a 2-0 scoreline in the first meeting in Parramatta last Thursday, the home side got off to a fast start at Gio Stadium in Canberra through Kusini Yengi in the second minute of the match, before an own-goal early in the second half then doubled the advantage.

A man-of-the-match performance by winger Craig Goodwin was then capped by a stunning strike to make it 3-0 to the Socceroos, before substitute John Iredale and Goodwin once more found the net to wrap up the points for Graham Arnold’s men.

After conceding only five minutes into the tie at Western Sydney Stadium on Matchday Three, the last thing Miodrag Radulovic would have wanted his Lebanon side to do would have been to let in another early goal.

Unfortunately for the visitors that’s just what happened two minutes after kick off. A Connor Metcalfe pass sent Goodwin haring down the left flank before he whipped a low cross into the box for Yengi to turn home at the second attempt for his first international goal.

Metcalfe then could have doubled the hosts’ advantage when Ali Tneich could only deflect a long ball into the path of the Socceroos’ number eight, who went through on goal only to be denied by Lebanon goalkeeper Mostafa Matar on 20 minutes.

An even better chance arrived with two minutes remaining of the first half when Goodwin again played a superb ball into the area, this time with the outside of his left foot, only to see Harry Souttar’s downward header bounce off the back post and away for a goal kick.

The second half began exactly like the first with Australia scoring after just two minutes of the restart. Goodwin’s free-kick into the box was inadvertently turned into his own net by Bassel Jradi after Souttar’s header was initially saved by Matar.

And just a minute later Goodwin claimed the goal that his performance had deserved as Ajdin Hrustic found the winger on the left side and the 32-year-old lashed the ball past Matar into the opposite corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area.

Lebanon were then inches away from securing an instant reply on 51 minutes as Nader Matar hit a speculative effort from 25 yards out that beat Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan but crashed against the crossbar.

But any hint of a Lebanon fightback was effectively ended when a pair of substitutes combined to make it 4-0 on 68 minutes. Patrick Yazbek powered forward down the left flank on the counter before finding Iredale inside the box to net his maiden Socceroos goal from close range.

There was still time for the irrepressible Goodwin to add another goal to his tally as he finished smartly at the back post from Iredale’s cross in from the right with nine minutes of the tie remaining to round off a fine night for Australia.

The Socceroos’ next Group I tie will be away at Bangladesh on 6 June, while the Cedars will look to bounce back against Palestine on the same date.