Sudarsono fired home the winner in the 70th minute, two minutes after replacing Bertha Yuana Putra, as Persik capitalised on their numerical advantage following the dismissal of Ruben Zadkovich to pick up their second consecutive win and move within a point of group leaders Urawa Reds.

Steven Corica had given Sydney an early lead in the game but Aris Budi Prasetiya headed the home side level midway through the first half.

The match had been postponed from Wednesday afternoon due to a heavily waterlogged pitch but there were no problems with the weather less than 24 hours later with heavy rain replaced by bright sunshine

The Persik fans who made it to the stadium for the morning kick-off were on their feet after only 40 seconds as the home side went close to taking the lead with a Christian Gonzalez header that forced a diving save from goalkeeper Clint Bolton.

However, it was the visitors who went in front on eight minutes when the ball was played down the left channel to David Zdrilic, who cut the ball back from the byline past goalkeeper Kurnia Sandy and into the path of Corica, who blasted the ball into the roof of the net.

Sydney enjoyed the majority of possession in the early stages, with Marko Rudan and Alex Brosque both missing opportunities to extend the lead.

They were made to pay for their profligacy on 25 minutes as the home side got back on level terms.

Erol Iba floated in an inviting cross from the left for Aris Budi Prasetiya, who rose above the Sydney defence to head the ball home between Bolton and his far post.

The Australian side should have been in front right at the end of the half when Alex Brosque's volley produced an excellent reflex save from Sandy but fell right into the path of Zdrilic, whose first time shot was cleared off the line by Zainuri.

Zainuri was on hand to keep out the visitors again in the 49th minute when Corica flicked the ball past Sandy and across goal towards David Carney only for the defender to head away from danger.

Sydney continued to exert the pressure with Brosque's header producing another fine save by Sandy but the match took a significant turn on 61 minutes when the visitors were reduced to 10 men after Zadkovich received his second yellow card for a challenge on Bertha Yuana Putra.

The A-League outfit still wasted a glorious opportunity on 69 minutes when Carney stepped on the ball after being found completely unmarked in the Persik box.

They would rue that miss as the home side broke quickly on the counter attack and worked the ball over to an unmarked Sudarsono, who drilled a low shot from the edge of the box that found its way into the bottom left corner of the net despite goalkeeper Bolton getting a hand to the ball.

The 10 men of Sydney attempted to raise their game in the closing minutes but their lack of match fitness took its toll as they failed to generate any more real scoring opportunities.

Persik could have increased their lead in the dying minutes as Danilo Fernando put the ball into the side-netting with only the goalkeeper to beat while Sudarsono drilled the ball just over the crossbar from 20 metres out.