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The game finished 1-1 at the end of regular time.
But the Jets steamrolled the out-of-season Indonesian side, with Nigel Boogaard scoring a clutch goal in the 101st minute to hand Newcastle the lead.
Ben Kantarovski nodded the ball into the path of the unmarked Boogaard at a corner, with the Jets captain clinically finishing.
Then in the 120th minute, substitutes Nick Cowburn and Matt Ridenton combined, with Ridenton heading home Cowburn’s free kick to make it 3-1.
Croatian striker Marko Simic started for Persija despite appearing in a Sydney court on Tuesday morning on charges of committing an act of indecency without consent and one count of common assault on board an overseas flight.
Simic, who was released on conditional bail, was alleged to have indecently touched a female passenger on the flight from Bali.
Earlier in the game, neither side was able to break the deadlock in an opening half that didn’t lack chances but missed finesse from both teams.
“It’s definitely not a fluid performance from the Newcastle Jets. I think they’d be extremely disappointed with that first half,” former Adelaide striker Bruce Djite said on Fox Sports.
“And in saying that, whilst they’re playing nowhere near their capacity, they still had fantastic chances.”
One golden opportunity saw Dimi Petratos blow a chance with a heavy first touch.
“Look at this, it’s a perfect opportunity to get a goal and with a touch like that in the 18-yard box from one of your best players, its extremely disappointing,” Djite said.
“And that brings the whole team down. Do thoughts in their head start to creep in about ‘not gonna be our day?’”
Just four minutes after the break, the Jets opened the scoring.
Petratos found Kaine Sheppard with a classy cross-field ball, with the striker flicking it on to Roy O’Donovan.
The Irishman slid the ball across to Ronald Vargas, who opened the scoring.
But Persija Jakarta hit back in the 72nd minute, when the Jets failed to clear their defensive lines and Ramdani Lestaluhu headed home.
There were few other chances in the second half but there was drama in the 89th minute. O’Donovan played on quickly at a resumption from an injury break, only to miss his one-on-one shot. Persija players showed their anger at the attempt and tempers threatened to boil over.
The Jets had the lion’s share of chances in the first half but poor touches in the penalty area proved costly.
The Jets face a difficult two-step qualification process in order to qualify for the ACL group stage.
They now progress to the final play-off match against 2018 ACL winners Kashima Antlers.
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