Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Sylvano Hat Trick Crushes Madura But Persipura Still Set Pace
Mitra Kukar v Barito Putera 3-2 (Hendra Bayauw, Marclei Santos, Jorge Gotor; Rizky Pora, Willian Lira) 1,123
An exciting Kalimantan Derby saw Barito Putera lose their third away game in their last four travels despite new import Lira netting a late penalty, his first for the team, to set up a nerve wracking finale.
Sriwijaya v Semen Padang 0-0 8,125
Sriwijaya have now gone seven games without a loss but you can't help feeling this will be seen as two points dropped especially after they had won away to Borneo last time out. Still, at least they can draw a morsel of comfort from the knowledge they have gone 274 minutes without conceding a goal. As for Semen Padang, a rare away point and they are one point ahead of their Sumatran rivals.
Persija v Persiba 2-0 (Reinaldo, Bruno Lopes) 28,949
Another large crowd at the Patriot Stadium saw Persija return to winning ways following their loss to Barito Putera in the last round. A goal on his debut by Reinaldo in first half injury time set up the home side and Bruno converted from the spot on the hour mark, sixth of the season, to make the points safe. Persiba, without coach Milo on the bench after he walked out on the club earlier in the week, struggled to build on their recent good form and relegation is looming ever closer.
Arema v Persib 0-0 27,610
Arema's first decent home crowd of the season but they were unable to go home with three points against a Persib side also struggling for consistency. The home side gave a debut to Turkmenistan international Ahmet Atayew while Persib put their new striker Ezechiel N'Douassel on the bench for the first 72 minutes. Arema had been challenging the top places just a few weeks back even if they were not performing at their best. How they must pine for those days, they are 10 points off the pace, winless in their last five games and have just one goal to show for their last seven and a half hours football.
Persela v PSM 0-1 (Wiljan Pluim) 11,013
Finally PSM got to enjoy a rare away win, only their second of the season as Dutch master Pluim netted with just five minutes, his fifth of the season, on the clock to end plucky Persela's resistance. With Persipura finding their form this was a much needed win for Robert Alberts team and keeps them within touching distance of the league leaders.
Perseru v Bhayangkara 1-1 (Mariando Djonak Uropmabin; Antoni Putro) 531
The records will show a first draw of the season for Bhayangkara but while there may be disappointment at what might have been they came away with a point from the toughest away game of the season.
Borneo v PS TNI 1-0 (Sultan Samma) 4,128
Samma's first goal of the season coming in the 90th minute saw the home side return to winning ways after losing their 100% home record against Sriwijaya. After the game caretaker coach Ricky Nelson was returned to Under 19 duty as Borneo appointed Iwan Setiwan as their new coach. As for PS TNI this was their sixth loss in their last seven games and the team which had started the season so well are now finding themselves in the wrong half of the table.
Bali United v Madura United 5-2 (Sylvano Comvalius 3, Nick van der Velden, Gede Sukadana; Fabiano Beltrame, Bayu Gatra) 21,517
Indonesian football is changing and here is the proof. These two teams didn't exist three years ago yet here they are challenging Persipura for the title. Comvalius now has 11 goals in his last 11 games following his hat trick against fellow high flyers Madura United. The visitors may say they were missing their own on fire striker Peter Odemwingie but that would be to belittle their team which saw new signing Thiago Furtuoso make his debut after coming in from Bhayangkara. Two teams which have come from nowhere are showing what can be done with some professional management and sensibly invested money.
Gresik United v Persipura 0-4 (Yohanes Pahabol 2, Immanuel Wanggai, Prisca Womsiwor) 212
The Black Pearls ended the game with 10 men, prolific striker Addison had one of his quieter games and Boas Solossa was replaced with seven minutes remaining as they coasted to victory against hapless Gresik United. Shall we just hand the Liga 1 trophy to Persipura now? When they get in to their stride they are like a relentless machine, nothing is going to get in their way. Rather than talk too much about Persipura's dominance let's spare a though for the Gresik United fans. In trouble earlier in the season for a pitch invasion that saw their club cop a heft fine the supporters boycotted this game in protest at club management which has allegedly not paid players' salaries for a few months. Rather than stay home and sen off angry tweets many supporters still turned up at the stadium but rather than buy tickets they used their money to go into a collection which was used to give to the players. A lovely gesture from all concerned!
1 - Persipura 19 11 4 4 37-22 37
2 - Bali United 19 11 2 6 38-23 35
3 - Madura United 19 10 5 4 34-23 35
4 - PSM 19 10 4 5 26-19 34
5 - Bhayangkara 11 1 7 30-24 34
17 - Sylvano Comvalius (Bali United)
13 - Peter Odemwingie (Madura United)
11 - Addison Alves (Persipura), Alberto Goncalves (Sriwijaya)
10 - Marclei Santos (Mitra Kukar), Reinaldo (PSM 9/Persija 1)
# posted by Me @ 12:48 PM 
