Persib sets up final showdown with Petrokimia
Persib sets up final showdown with Petrokimia
JAKARTA (JP): Persib Bandung and Petrokimia stormed into the
grand final of the Indonesian soccer league championship after
surviving hard fought semifinals yesterday.
Persib, which played under the persistent cheers of thousands
of partisan fans, beat a ten-man Barito thanks to Kekey Zakaria's
sizzling goal ten minutes from time.
Elegant striker Widodo Cahyono Putra assured Petrokimia of its
final berth nine minutes after the break in the semifinal clash
against Pupuk Kaltim.
The final on Sunday will be the resumption of the Persib-
Petrokimia rivalry in the Group A round-robin matches. Both teams
settled for a goal-less draw when they met in the group's opening
match last week.
Both teams also finished the group matches unbeaten, but
Persib clearly sealed the round-robin competition in a more
convincing fashion. Persib scored two wins and a draw going into
yesterday's semifinals, while Petrokimia managed only a win and
two draws.
Persib shrugged off its status as the only amateur team which
qualified for the quarterfinals, displaying relentless attacking
play to destroy Barito's stubborn defense.
Goalkeeper Abdilla was the toast of Barito's resilient
challenge until Kekey broke the 75-minute tie with a well-aimed
header, excellently finishing Dede Iskandar's corner kick.
Abdilla stood firmly behind the bar to foil at least eight
scoring chances created by Persib's goal-thirsty forwards.
Abdilla denied Persib an early lead when he tipped Sutiono's
heavy right-footer midway into the second half.
The goalkeeper became Barito's last hope when the South
Kalimantan side was reduced to ten men, following the marching
orders given by referee Hairul Agil to Heriansyah just 30 minutes
after the opening whistle.
Striker Heriansyah, who was forced to serve as an extra
defender due to Persib's non-stop raids, abruptly felled midfield
Yudi Guntara who was attempting a breakaway in Barito's left
flank.
Persib appeared it would easily maintain the rhythm for the
rest of the match following Heriansyah's dismissal, but an
inspired Barito side put sporadic but dangerous counter pressures
on Persib in its own half.
The hero
Dahrul Basri, the hero in Barito's 2-0 scalp of red-hot
favorite Pelita Jaya in their final group B match, was an inch
away from putting an end to Persib's celebration when he managed
to capitalize on Persib's stranded goalkeeper Anwar Sanusi five
minutes from time. Dahrul's low drive to the far post however
cleared Anwar's left bar by 10 centimeters.
Earlier, Dahrul found the net but referee Hairul annulled the
equalizer, saying that the striker was offside.
"We were discriminated against by the referee," Barito coach
Daniel Rukito complained.
In the other semifinal, Pupuk Kaltim and Petrokimia created a
good number of scoring chances but remained tied 0-0 for the
first 45 minutes.
Petrokimia's lone goal came from ace a well-knit teamwork
performed by strikers Widodo and Brazil's Jackson Tiago. The
Brazilian dribbled the ball past Pupuk's defenders before sending
it to an unmarked Widodo. The 25 year-old striker chested the
ball before blasting it into the net left empty by goalkeeper
Sumardi.
"I played without bearing too much burden. It seems that I
have been successful in growing up a mutual understanding with
Widodo," Tiago said after the match. (amd)