Monday, March 06, 2017
Five Star Gonzales Sends Arema To Pakansari
Semi Final 2nd Leg
Persib v Pusamania 2-1 (Shohei Matsunaga, Atep; Dirkir Kohn Glay) 25,598
Despite losing the 1st leg in Samarinda by 2-1, and surviving an all out assault by the home side relatively intact, Persib fans were out early queuing for tickets for this game as they sought to keep the trophy they won back in 2015. Vladimir Vujovic, that most lethal of defenders, whose goal seconds before half time had done much to restore confidence in the battered blues, was again instrumental in this game, claiming an assist and proving his pedigree after extra time when he netted.
Sadly for Persib their dream ended when Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan missed from the spot and it was Pusamania who could begin looking for hotels in Bogor, It is worth pointing out there are at present two Pusamania teams but this is no duelisme. The side entering the President Cup is built around a core of young layers who will form the Under 21 team for the upcoming season. Back in Samarinda the full squad, featuring the likes of Ponaryo Astaman, are getting ready for their own season,
Despite being only three years old Pusamania can now look forward to their first major piece of silverware when they go toe to toe with Arema at Pakansari Stadium on Sunday.
Arema v Semen Padang 5-2 (Cristian Gonzales 5; Marcel Sacremento, Vendry Mofu) 24,749
How did this happen? Semen Padang were 1-0 up from the first leg and scored twice in three first half minutes to build a surely unassailable 3-0 aggregate lead. Then the Cristian Gonzales show took over. Goals on 29 and 31 minutes leveled the score on the night before completing his hat trick on 66 minutes. The score was level on aggregate but Semen Padang had those two away goals. Surely they could hang on? Nope. Gonzales hit again in 89 and 90 minutes to make the game safe for the Malang side and set up their own date in Cibinong.
Controversial? Who knows. Remember I'm from England. I grew up watching refs give Liverpool the benefit of the doubt when they were the best team in Europe and we see that today with match officials afraid to give big decisions against certain teams and certain managers because they fear the verbal assault coming their way.
Suffice to say the ageless Gonzales just can't stop scoring.
# posted by Me @ 9:43 AM 
