PSIS beats Persebaya; Persija, PSM draw

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

PSIS Semarang put their opening match's defeat behind them to beat Persebaya Surabaya 1-0 while Persija Jakarta was held to a 1-1 draw by PSM Makassar in the last-eight stage of the Indonesian league at the Bung Karno stadium here on Sunday.

EP Benson was the only scorer of the PSIS-Persebaya match with his thundering close range shot in the 79th minute, according to Antara.

Earlier, Persija's hopes for a second win, following their opening victory over PSIS, failed to materialize as Ebanda Herman canceled out Persija's early strike by Agus Indra Kurniawan.

Agus put Persija in front with a header in the 49th minute before Ebanda equalized for PSM in the 65th minute, also through a header.

The results leave the West Group teams still in contention for the semifinals. Persija tops the standings with four points followed by PSIS (3), PSM (2) and Persebaya (1).

Wednesday's matches pit Persija against Persebaya at Bung Karno and PSIS against PSM at Persija's home base, the Lebak Bulus stadium in South Jakarta.

Meanwhile, Persipura gained their second win to take the lead in the East Group matches in Jayapura with six points.

Persipura defeated Arema Malang 1-0 on Sunday, thanks to Korinus Finkrew's goal in the 12th minute. They beat Persik Kediri 1-0 on Friday. The other team in the group is PSMS Medan.