When Marko Simic's off-field concerns ruled him out of Persija's AFC Cup campaign, the club acted swiftly to replace the Croatian in their forward line for the Continental competition, signing Perseru Serui's Escobar.

However, the 32-year-old has struggled to replace the prolific Simic, who netted eight times in the Group Stages of the 2018 edition, and has admitted his troubles fitting into the team.

"It may still be an issue of adapting to the team, there are many new players at the club, so maybe that makes it a little difficult," he said.

Last year's AFC Cup matches at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta were unquestionably one of the highlights of the 2018 tournament, with the passionate fans of Persija breaking multiple attendance records for the competition as they packed the stands.

Had Persija defeated Singapore's Home United in the 2018 ASEAN Zonal semi-finals they would have faced Tuesday's opponents Ceres-Negros in the ASEAN Zonal final, but a surprise defeat to the Singaporeans ended the chance of the Indonesia-Philippines clash, and with it Ceres' chance to taste the sensational atmosphere generated at the Gelora Bung Karno.

Until, that is, this week's vital Group G clash in Indonesia's capital.

With two points separating the two teams after the first two matches, the home side made the perfect start when Spaniard Marañon headed home from Martin Steuble’s inch perfect cross in just the ninth minute.

The hosts took a surprise lead through Reo Nakamura just inside the 15-minute mark, but Persija came out strongly after the interval and levelled through Bruno Matos midway through the second half.

Steven Paulle put Persija in front with 13 minutes to play and Matos wrapped up proceedings in the final 10 minutes as Ivan Kolev’s side claimed their first win of the campaign.

The Indonesian champions had chances of their own before the Vietnamese side piled on the pressure in the late stages but failed to find the winning goal.

After a lively but scrappy start to the game, Persija’s Bruno Matos had the fans on their feet with some sublime skill taking him past a few challenges but the move came to nothing.

Ceres made the early running and Binh Duong goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong had to be alert to catch a flashing header from Maranon in the eighth minute.

The hosts responded when Victor Mansaray danced passed two challenges near the goal-line, cut inside and fired a shot into the side netting.