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)