Elsewhere, Timor-Leste trounced visiting Mongolia 4-1 to take a stranglehold on its tie while Yemen put itself in pole position for a place in the second round of joint-qualifiers with a 3-1 win over Pakistan.
India accounted for Nepal 2-0, Chinese Taipei was edged out 1-0 by visiting Brunei while Cambodia scored three second-half goals to cruise to a 3-0 win over Macau.
The six Round 1 winners - of the two-legged ties which conclude on 17 March- will advance to the second round where the 34 highest-ranked teams - including Asian champion Australia - await. The 40 nations will be drawn into eight groups of five teams and compete according to a double round-robin format.
The Round 2 qualification matches will be held between 11 June 11 2015 and 29 March 29 2016.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.