PSMS, Persebaya, Persija, PSM into league's final four<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan and Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra<\/p>\n
The semifinal places of the Indonesian soccer league
\nchampionship were all booked as PSMS Medan, Persebaya Surabaya,
\nPersija Jakarta and PSM Makassar completed their group matches
\nwith a win each on Sunday.<\/p>\n
PSMS became the only qualifier to finish with a 100 percent
\nrecord after scoring in a comeback 2-1 win over Barito Putra of
\nBanjarmasin in their last Western Group match. The Medan club
\nwill play defending champions PSM in the final four, to be held
\nat Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Oct. 4.<\/p>\n
The other semifinal pits Persija, winner of the Eastern Group,
\nagainst former champion Persebaya, who finished second behind
\nPSMS thanks to a sudden-death goal from Reynald Pieters in their
\nnail-biting match against arch-rival Persib Bandung.<\/p>\n
Persebaya struggled all the way against the Bandung side in
\nMedan's Teladan Stadium. Despite a hatful of scoring chances for
\nboth sides, they were tied at 0-0 after regular time.<\/p>\n
Extra time was needed to determine who would accompany Medan
\nto the semifinals as both Persib and Persebaya had collected
\nthree points, with identical goal margins of 2-2.<\/p>\n
Reynald sealed Persebaya's victory with his golden goal in the
\n112th minute. Dos Santos struck the ball against the bar and
\nReynald pounced onto the bouncing ball.<\/p>\n
In the second match, PSMS, which had already qualified, fell
\nbehind after Barito's Bago Sadiso found the net in the 39th
\nminute. But the South Kalimantan team's celebration proved short-
\nlived as Cholin Misrun fired an equalizer three minutes after.<\/p>\n
Ariel Guterres assured PSMS of its third successive win five
\nminutes into the second half. The Medan side topped the western
\ngroup with 9 points.<\/p>\n
In Makassar, South Sulawesi, Persija Jakarta was held to a 2-2
\ndraw by Persita Tangerang in the rain-drenched western group's
\nmatch, which saw both teams playing with 10 players almost
\nthroughout the second half.<\/p>\n
The result was enough to put Persija on top with 7 points.<\/p>\n
Persija pulled off a 0-2 lead through Budiman in the 18th
\nminute of the first half and Budi Sudarsono early in the second.
\nHowever, the expulsion of Ebanda Timothy following his second
\nbookable offense left the Jakarta-based team reeling for the rest
\nof the game.<\/p>\n
Persita did not squander the chance, with Ilham Jaya Kusuma
\nscoring twice to equal the score. He found the net in the 16th
\nminute and 43rd minute of the second half.<\/p>\n
In between, the Tangerang-based team also had to cope with
\nNugroho being sent off following his professional foul on Budi
\nHarsono.<\/p>\n
In the other match, host PSM trounced Arema Malang 3-0 to earn
\n6 points. Kurniawan Julianto made a double, both in the first
\nhalf before Brazilian Carlos de Melo completed the drubbing with
\na second-half goal.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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