The strong turn out was dealt out a goal feast, with Kerr's brace rounding out strikes from Chloe Logarzo, Emily van Egmond and Clare Polkinghorne in-between.

Despite acknowledging mid-week that the English-based contingent's travel requirements creates a lot of fatigue, Kerr's sensational performance all but sealed the deal.

Now Australia travel to Vietnam for a second-leg on Wednesday, but despite the near unassailable scoreline, she insists there's still room for improvement.

"I thought we controlled the game, obviously we weren't as sharp as we want to be in some points, but 5-0," Kerr shrugged.

"I thought many of us had outstanding games and it's nice to get the cleansheet.

"There has been a lot of travel, I felt a little tired towards the end. But that's what we do, we're lucky that we have the best medical staff in the world."

Vietnam appeared to frustrate the Matildas at times with a deep line and in a one-sided contest, aggression bubbled to the surface on occasion as the match became quite niggly in periods.

Although Australia created bountiful chances, many of the squad will be disappointed they didn't have a hat-trick.

"We actually planned for it, so we knew it was coming," Kerr said.

"Yeah, it was a little bit slow because they had five or six at the back but we were planning for it and just had to keep our patience.

"We knew the goals would come and they did."