The visitors were dealt a blow in the 16th minute when Mohsen Bengar was sent off but they took a surprise lead through Rasoul Khatibi on the stroke of half-time.

But second-half strikes from substitutes Abdulrahman Al Qahtani and Al Hamad secured a first-ever win for Al Ettifaq in Asia’s premier club tournament.

With Al Shabab of the United Arab Emirates downing Uzbek champions Bunyodkor in the other game in their group, all four teams now have three points each to leave the race for the top two spots wide open.

“We played well throughout this game and this was the main reason behind our win,” said Andone.

“We had a lot of chances to score in the game and we could have won by an even bigger margin had we scored from these chances.”

Bengar’s dismissal came about when he was adjudged to have brought down Prince Tagoe in the box.

Korean referee Kim Dong-jin immediately pointed to the spot and Saleh Bashar stepped up to take the spot kick but Rahman Ahmadi dived to his left to deny the forward.

“The game was very important and things would have been better for us in the first half if we scored the penalty,” added Andone.

“Playing with a numerical advantage made things easier for us tonight and we showed a good performance.

“The changes that we made were good and we eventually scored the necessary winner in the second half.”

Sepahan coach Bijan Taheri was unsurprisingly disappointed with the defeat for his side but paid tribute to Al Ettifaq, who are making their debut in the AFC Champions League.

“I can’t express my disappointment with the defeat,” he said.

“To be honest the referee didn’t give us a chance to play well on the night due to the decisions that he made.

“I said previously that Al Ettifaq are playing for the first time in the competition but they showed that they have the necessary experience to defeat us.

"I think both Sepahan and Al Ettifaq will fight for the top spot in the group.”