Dimas Drajad was sent off in the 52nd minute for headbutting Lion City captain Bailey Wright, who had cancelled out Tyronne del Pino’s 43rd minute opener within four minutes of the restart after the interval.
Persib remain bottom of the Group F standings despite the result as Bojan Hodak’s side avoided defeat for the first time in the competition while Lion City move onto four points having played only twice following the postponement of their earlier game with Port FC.
Maxime Lestienne had threatened in the first minute for Lion City, seeing his attempt gathered by Kevin Mendoza while Tyronne found the side-netting with an improvised effort two minutes later in a lively start to the game.
Matters soon settled down, however, and scoring opportunities were at a premium as the teams cancelled each other out in midfield.
It took until the 30th minute for either side to gain a clear sight of goal and it was the hosts who cut through the Lion City defence with Dimas’ through ball finding Ciro Alves on the edge of the area, but his attempt comfortably cleared the crossbar.
With two minutes remaining in the half Persib took the lead. Dimas was gifted possession on the halfway line and quickly turned to play Tyronne in behind the Lion City defence, the Spaniard scoring with a delightful lofted finish on the run from outside the area.
Four minutes into the second half Lion City were level as former Australia international Wright nodded in from close range, his downward header from a cross swung towards the far post by Lestienne beating Mendoza.
Wright was involved again moments later when Dimas was given his marching orders, the pair clashing in the Lion City penalty area before the Persib forward foolishly lashed out at the defender, leaving referee Bijan Heidari with no option but to show the red card.
With a player advantage, Lion City pushed forward and Song Ui-young blazed his effort wide in the 63rd minute although visiting goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud still had to be alert to deny Ciro at the near post moments later.
The Singapore Premier League side failed to make the most of their numerical superiority and the teams shared the points as a late red card was shown to Lion City’s Bart Ramselaar in the final seconds.
