Persebaya pushed by Persik in 1-1 draw

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Kediri, East Java

Defending champion Persebaya Surabaya staved off the relentless attack of Persik Kediri on Wednesday at the latter's home ground for a 1-1 draw in the Eastern Division competition of the 2005 Liga Indonesia.

Persik's "White Tigers" came out fighting from the opening whistle, keeping Persebaya's line of defense on its toes with searing strikes from Chilean player Cristian Gonzales and Argentinean Aldo Sebastian.

The Persebaya "Green Force", led by captain Murzid Effendi, was taken by surprise by the blitz and was forced to play to their opponent's tempo. The inevitable happened when Gonzales scored past Persebaya's towering Chinese-born goalkeeper Zeng Cheng.

The home crowd support continued to fuel attacks by the 2003 league champion, but Persebaya also began to make counter attacks.

A smooth breakaway led to diminutive Taufik taking a shot at goal, with Persik goalkeeper Wahyudi mistiming his block as the ball sailed in.

In the second half, Persebaya seemed content to play to a draw as its players scrambled to fend off the attacks. In the 70th minute, a shot from Hariyanto made it past Zeng, but another Persik player was judged to have obstructed the goalkeeper and the goal was disallowed.

Persik manager Iwan Budianto blamed the draw on Wahyudi. "It was 1,000 percent the keeper's mistake, but what can we do about it ... We will get our revenge in our next match."