Tuesday, August 01, 2017
Bali United & Madura United Share Top Spot Halfway Through Season
Persela v Barito Putera 3-2 (Jose Coehlo, Samsul Arif, Fahmi Al Ayyubi; Gavin Kwan, Rizky Pora) 8,730
Persela returned to winning ways after two draws and a loss with this narrow win over Jacksen F Thiago's men. The home side raced into a two goal lead with midfielder Coehlo getting his first of the season on 25 minutes and Samsul Arif making it 2-0 six minutes later. Rizky Pora almost saved the game for the visitors laying on a goal for Kwan and scoring the equaliser, his sixth of the season, with nine minutes. Sadly for Barito Putera there was still time enough for the exciting Fahmi to score his first goal since May to secure the three points for Persela
Mitra Kukar v Persiba 2-2 (Marclei Santos, M Sissoko; Yudi Khoirudin, Bijahil Chalwa) 2,560
This was only the second time this season Mitra Kukar have dropped points at their Aji Imbut Stadium but it wasn't enough to keep coach Jafri Sastra in a job. He stepped down of the team from East Kalimantan even though they are comfortably mid table. A disappointing crowd for the derby which saw Persiba come from behind twice to secure the points after Marclei had given the home side the lead after 55 minutes. Milomir Seslija is moulding a tenacious side together, this was their third draw in their last four games and with a transfer window now hoping he will be looking to bring in some experience to help the side turn the draws into victories.
Perseru v Persib 2-1 (Arthur Bonai 2; Shohei Matsunaga) 2,417
A rare outing for Carlton Cole but Persib came away from Serui with nothing, much like most teams. Djadjang may have gone as coach, finally, but Persib are still struggling to turn those draws into victories and they are now just two places above the relegation places. Arthu Bonai did the damage with two goals for the home side while Matsunaga scored a last minute penalty for the visitors. When you consider that was the Japanese midfielder's third goal of the season and he is the club's joint top scorer with Atep, you have a sense of where Persib are falling short.
Madura United v PSM 1-0 (Greg Nwokolo) 5,265
Four games without a win now for PSM as coach Robert Alberts must be wondering what has happened to his team's title challenge. Five losses on the road will need to be addressed somehow and if the rumours are true PSM could also be in for a new striker with Reinaldo being linked with a move away. But take nothing away from Madura United, I have been cooing about them for some time now and when it comes to home form they seem unbeatable with eight wins and two draws in the first half of the season and 25 goals netted in front of their own supporters. Their achilles heel, like PSM and so many other teams, comes on their travels and they face 10 more away games before they can think about being crowned champions. They have just one win on the road.
Persija v Bhayangkara 1-0 (Bruno Lopes) 29,640
What's this, 12 games unbeaten for Persija? For a team whose fans were baying for coach Tecco to step down after they had lost 1-0 away to Persela there is a much more confident feel, especially in their defence where goalkeeper Andritany must be a contender for player of the season so far. They needed a last minute goal from Lopes to earn three points in this game but Tecco must be concerned about the lack of goals; they have scored one goal in each of their last seven games and cannot always rely on Andritany to perform heroics every game. Heartbreak for Bhayangkara and their coach losing this game so late on and they remain without a draw all season. How coach Simon McMenemy must be wishing for a couple of old fashioned 0-0s once in a while.
Sriwijaya v Persipura 2-2 (Alberto Goncalves 2; Addison Alves, Yohannes Pahabol) 8,470
Sriwijaya are one point above the relegation. Yeap, I find that hard to believe that a team so used to success is just six points off the bottom three albeit with a game in hand. Against Perseru. And things could be so much worse if they were to be without the evergreen Brazilian striker Beto who has now scored 10 for the season after this brace against the Black Pearls. His goal 11 minutes from the end of this game looked to have secured a rare win for Sriwijaya but with four minutes remaining Pahabol struck with his first goal since the end of May to make it 2-2 and a third consecutive draw. Failure to defeat Perseru tomorrow could see coach Osvaldo Lessa coming under intense pressure. Persipura? Yeah, they're Persipura!
Arema v Borneo 0-0 5,375
PS TNI v Semen Padang 2-1 (Erwin Ramdani 2; Marcel Sacremento) 1,200
Gresik United v Bali United 1-3 (Arsyad Yusgiantoro; OG, Fadil Sausu, Sylvano Comvalius) 1,015
Slowly but surely Bali United have been hanging around the top places in Liga 1 waiting for their rivals to slip up. If you wanna have a chance of winning the title in Indonesia it is no good just having a good home record. Plenty of teams are near unbeatable on their own turf but they travel badly. Bali United don't. This was their fourth away win of the season and their fifth win in their last six games. It also helps if you have a striker who is on fire as Camvalius is, his 89th minute goal here was his 13th of the season and his 10th in nine games. It's difficult not to feel sorry for Gresik United. This game was played in Lamongan after as they serve a suspension for a pitch invasion earlier this season and they have been struggling all season, just one win to show for their efforts, and they started this game by gifting the visitors an own goal. Arsyad levelled with 21 minutes left on the clock and Gresik must have thought they had done enough to earn a rare win but two goals in the last six minutes dashed their hopes.
1 - Bali United 17 10 2 5 32-18 32
2 - Madura United 17 9 5 3 30-17 32
3 - Persipura 17 9 4 4 30-21 31
4 - Bhayangkara 19 10 0 7 27-22 30
*Some sources have Madura United in top spot based on head to head.
13 - Peter Odemwingie (Madura United), Sylvano Comvalius (Bali United)
10 - Alberto Goncalves (Sriwijaya)
9 - Reinaldo Elias (PSM), Lerby Eliandry (Borneo), Marclei Santos (Mitra Kukar)
# posted by Me @ 4:19 PM 
