Thursday, July 06, 2017
PSM Stay Top Despite Loss As Rivals Lose Ground
Persipura v Mitra Kukar 6-0 (Yan Pieter Nasadit, Prisca Womsiwor 3, Boas Solossa, Addison Alves) 12,400
New coach Wanderley Junior got his Persipura career off to a flying start as his team thumped Mitra Kukar in the first game after the Lebaran break. Twenty year old Nasadit started the scoring after 10 minutes before 22 year old Womsiwor got in on the act netting two goals in six minutes. The Black Pearls killed off the visitors with three goals in nine second half minutes including Womsiwor completing his first top flight hat trick
Semen Padang v Persela 1-0 (Irsyad Maulana) 5,963
Irsyad's second goal of the season on the hour mark killed off plucky Persela who saw Ivan Carlos' goal disallowed after a collision between the home side's keeper and a defender. To make things worse for the visitor top scorer Carlos was later red carded.
PS TNI v Arema 0-0 1,498 (Match Report)
Borneo v Madura United 3-0 (Flavio Beck 2, Shane Smeltz)
High flying Madura United's title aspirations took a hit after going down 3-0 against an irrepressible Borneo. The visitors opted to start their leading scorer Peter Odemwingie on the bench while Borneo gave New Zealand international Shane Smeltz a starting role despite his exploits for his country at the Confederations Cup in Russia. The win keeps Borneo's 1005 home record intact and they climb to 12th in the table
Gresik United v Persija 1-1 (Gusti Rustiawan; Luis Junior) Behind Closed Doors
A rare point for struggling Gresik United, their first since the end of May but Persija were left fuming about the referee's performance, threatening to file an official letter of complaint. Gusti Rustiawan gave the home team the lead on 28 minutes with his first goal of the season, the first time Persijas defence had been breached in 478 minutes. Despite the draw Gresik United could face further sanction as seven of their players were yellow carded including M Said who was also sent off. Scorer Rustiawan picked up his fourth red card in five games. Already punished by being forced to play behind closed doors this result may be a costly point for relegation threatened Gresik.
Bhayangkara v Barito Putera 0-1 (Mathias Cordobo) 1,250
Jacksen F Thiago saw his side pick up their first away win since April 2015, the season that was halted when PSSI was suspended by FIFA, as they launched the most complete smash and grab raid on third place Bhayangkara. After scoring on 14 minutes with a free head it was backs to the wall for Barito Putera who put in a polished, professional performance to keep the Cops at bay. Bhayangkara dominated the second 45 minutes and had the chances to draw level but a lack of composure in front of goal ultimately cost them. Ilham Uddin, four goals in six games, came on as a second half substitute and his all action style immediately lifted the spirits among the home team fans but as I said that clinical final touch wasn't there.
Bali United v Persiba 2-0 (Nick van der Velden, Sylvano Comvalius) 10,000
Bali's win sees them four points behind leaders PSM after a competent display against struggling Persiba. Just one win all season, the Honey Bears are rooted to the bottom of the table with just four points from 12 games and it is difficult to see how coach Milo Seslija can change things too much even with the transfer window opening next month. Four straight losses, perhaps some respite may come when they host PSM next week.
Persib v PSM 2-1 (Shohei Matsuanaga, Atep; Wiljan Pluim) 19,713
The Persib soap opera rolls on. Coach Djadjang Nurdjaman wasn't in the dug out for this crucial test against the league leaders. He was in Saudi Arabia on a minor hajj but his team seems to have done just fine without him with Japanese import Matsunaga scoring his first goal of the season six minutes before half time. Atep hit his second on 55 minutes before Pluim set up a nervy final 18 minutes. After the game PSM coach Robert Alberts said Persib ha
d played well but at least his team were still top of the table. Yep, all the results went PSM's way for sure...but beware Persipura! One thing Alberts may be wary of. His team have picked up just one point from their last four away games and with three of t heir next five games on the road he will be wanting to see an improvement in away form or that top place will soon be a memory.
1 - PSM Makassar 12 7 2 3 19-11 23
2 - Madura United 12 6 4 2 22-12 22
3 - Persipura 12 7 1 4 21-15 22
4 - Bhayangkara 12 7 0 5 17-16 21
9 - Peter Odemwingie (Madura United)
7 - Ivan Carlos (Persela), Lerby Eliandry (Borneo), Reinaldo (PSM), Sylvano Comvalius (Bali United
# posted by Me @ 9:16 AM 
