There was almost an hour on the clock when Silva’s fine individual effort broke the deadlock before Serginho added a second 12 minutes later to put Kashima in a strong position ahead of the second leg on November 10.

“In the early stages our opponents were applying a lot of pressure to stop us from building up,” Silva told the-AFC.com. “If we had conceded then, the game could have finished with a different result, but we dealt with it well and made it to half time at 0-0.

“Then in the second half, we just played calmly which enabled us to play in more of an attacking style, which in turn led to us creating chances and winning 2-0."

Brazilian duo Leo Silva and Serginho got the decisive goals as the J League side took control following a bright start from the Islamic Republic of Iran champions.

The first big chance fell to the visitors when a cross from the right was nodded into the path of Ali Alipour in the fourth minute. Just eight yards from goal, the striker looked certain to score but Jung Seung-hyun threw himself into the path of the shot and blocked it with his head.

Two minutes later, Ahmad Noorollahi’s free-kick from the left was tipped over by Kwoun Sun-tae as Persepolis applied early pressure.

Second-half goals from Leo Silva and Serginho have given the Japanese side the advantage ahead of the return leg in the Islamic Republic of Iran in seven days' time, and Beiranvand felt that Pesrepolis lost their way after a strong opening 45 minutes.

“We started the match very well,” said Beiranvand, whose side were reduced to 10 men after Siamac Nemati was dismissed late on for a second bookable offence.

"We made one or two good opportunities that unfortunately did not lead to goals. We lost our concentration in the second half and conceded two goals.