After going ahead in the 71st-minute in Wednesday's clash when makeshift right-back Brendan Hamill pounced on a series of calamitous defensive errors by the visitors and induced an own goal by Julio Cesar, Victory looked set to claim a much-needed win at AAMI Park.
But the Indonesians hurled themselves forward searching for a late equaliser and were twice rewarded across five devastating minutes.
Substitute Luka Menalo struck first in the 85th minute before Balsa Sekulic, a week after netting a brace to beat Victory in Java, delivered an Indonesian side's first-ever win in Australia when he snuck in to meet a Mariano Peralta cross and glanced a shot past Jack Duncan in the 90th minute.
"We knew it was going to be a difficult game," said Savarese.
"At some point the difference was made by the little details of some of their players and some of our players.
"It was just about the little moments, the little things that we gotta get better at."
A perfect four wins from four in their ACL2 so far, Persib have progressed to the knockout stages for a second-straight year, much to the delight of the vocal contingent of their fans who made up the majority of the 3,400 in attendance.
"It's completely unexpected - for me at least," Persib coach Igor Tolic said.
"We work hard; we try to create the right environment with the right players; we respect each other; we go; we went game by game.
"We cannot wait to see what happens in the next round."
Victory's hopes of joining them now sit on a knife edge.
Winners of just one game in their last seven in all competitions, the defeat leaves them on four points in Group E, unable to catch Persib in their remaining two fixtures.
They are also at risk of falling into third should FC Seoul defeat Vietnamese side The Cong-Viettel in a late Wednesday kickoff.
"We still can qualify," Savarese said.
"There are six points that we need to win, and with those six points, we qualify.
"We need to believe that we can still go through; that's the way we are, and that's the way we're going to be in every competition."
