Persita edge closer to historic Indonesian soccer league victory
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Once a soccer minnow, Persita Tangerang moved a step closer to an unprecedented title in the Indonesian premier league after beating former champion PSM Makassar on Wednesday.
The victory celebration, however, was marred by the unruly supporters of both teams, who hurled plastic bottles at each other. A riot seemed on the verge of erupting but the police intervened and set up a cordon separating the rival groups.
Disappointed PSM supporters also burned bench, but the fire brigade was quick to arrive at the Bung Karno Stadium and douse the flames.
Apart from the crowd's behavior, the first semifinal match lived up to the public's expectations of attacking soccer, although last year's losing finalist PSM lacked the luck to convert a hatful of scoring opportunities.
PSM, the 2000 champion, qualified for the semifinals despite missing its stars Bima Sakti and Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto throughout this season. The two national team regular starters moved to Pekanbaru at the end of last season.
Persita took a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute after Cameroon's Olinga Atananga leaped to finish a cross from Brazilian signing Carlos de Melo with a header over stranded PSM goalkeeper Ansar Abdullah.
De Melo also created the second goal in the 61st minute. He dribbled the ball into the left flank of the PSM defense before feeding it to Ilham Jaya Kesuma who was running to the penalty box unmarked. The league's leading scorer Ilham slammed the ball into the net, despite a brave save attempt from a PSM defender.
Ilham has now collected 25 goals and looks set to win the Golden Boot award.
Atananga attributed his team's success to luck given that PSM dominated almost throughout the match with persistent attacks.
"They were just unlucky. They just lacked the finishing touch to convert their scoring chances," he said.
Persita coach Benny Dolo expressed optimism that his team could overcome either Semen Padang or Petrokimia Gresik in Sunday's final for the championship trophy.
Semen Padang and Petrokimia will meet on Thursday for the other place in the final.