Milla's debut helps Pelita crush Kudus 5-0

Milla's debut helps Pelita crush Kudus 5-0

JAKARTA (JP): Pelita Jaya's too-easy 5-0 win over minnow
Persiku yesterday might not have been a real challenge for
Cameroon soccer star Roger Milla, Pelita's newest acquisition,
who played in a duet with goal-minded Buyung Ismu.

Milla, who brought his national team to the World Cup finals
twice in 1990 and again last year, headed his second goal in the
67th minute.

The goal rubbed salt into the wound for Persiku, whose
goalkeeper, Agus Setiawan, could only grab the ball after it had
bounced and slowly rolled a few centimeters into the goal area.

Milla scored his first goal in the 24th minute amid the cheers
and shouts of more than 10,000 spectators at the Lebak Bulus
stadium in South Jakarta.

Striker Buyung Ismu, eager to prove his value as a goal scorer
after being trusted to replace dismissed Yugoslav Dejan
Glousevic, scored three goals: in the 30th minute, the 50th
minute and the 72nd minute.

It was ten minutes into the second half that Ismu breezed in
his one-man-show goal, after fooling two ignorant Persiku backs.
Ismu subsequently made a swinging movement with his hips, in a
gesture of mockery at Persiku's weakness.

Poor stamina

During the first half, Pelita Jaya developed attacks on the
left side of Persiku's defense, which proved to be the Central
Java team's Achilles' heel. During the second half, they
discovered that Persiku's right side defense was also a
weakpoint, perhaps because the stamina of Persiku's players had
declined considerably.

After humiliating Persiku with 5-0, Milla, wearing a smile,
showed the losing team "a bit leniency", by driving the ball
nearing Persiku's left goal line, instead of scoring a goal he
could have quickly turned given his penalty-like position.

Buyung Ismu, on the other hand, mercilessly pursued another
goal but Agus Setiawan succeeded in foiling Ismu's attempts.
Another goal attempt by Milla, who received the ball from his
Yugoslav teammate Miodrad Bazovic, failed when it stuck the
goalpost.

Persiku's defeat was not surprising. Even at the start of the
game, Persiku had no aces to play. It has no important booters at
all, and its captain, Bambang Haryoso, had to play practically
all by himself, in contrast to Pelita Jaya's solid teamwork.

With yesterday's win, Pelita Jaya has now won five out of the
eight games it has played in the West Division. It beat East
Jakarta team Persijatim 2-1 on Wednesday last week.

For Persiku, yesterday was its second loss after two draws and
two wins.

Yesterday's other results for the West Division as well as the
East Division were all draws. In the West Division, PSDS of
Medan, North Sumatra, drew with Semen Padang of West Sumatra,
which remains at the top of the division, in a goalless match.
Persija of Jakarta held BPD Jateng of Central Java 1-1. Bandung
Raya and its home rival Persib also drew 1-1.

In the East Division, Persegres of Gresik, East Java, and
Pupuk Kaltim of East Kalimantan satisfied themselves with 1-1
while Mitra Surabaya equalized with Arema Malang 2-2.

On Saturday, six cars were damaged in Malang during a mass
brawl triggered by the home team Persema's failure to nail a
victory over Persebaya of Surabaya. The match was goalless.

The other results on Saturday were that Persipura of Jayapura,
Irian Jaya, chalked up a 4-1 win over Persiba of Balikpapan, East
Kalimantan; and PSIS of Semarang, Central Java, drew 1-1 with
Petrokimia Gresik. (arf)