Steven Danis
Football Tribe Indonesia
Persija Jakarta faced off against Ceres-Negros on the 4th matchday of 2019 AFC Cup yesterday. The match itself was rescheduled from the original date 16th April due to the political agenda in Indonesia: election for the new president and legislative members. But the bad luck didn’t stop there after Ceres have a party on the tiger’s lair.
The Busmen managed a 3-2 win over Macan Kemayoran, as Ceres coming from behind after Persija scored two goals. From the first-half, Persija looked dominant even without a main striker, as Bruno Matos became a false-nine in front of Novri Setiawan and Riko Simanjuntak on the flanks.
For the first five minutes, the home side looked to create chances from a long passing plan, which failed against Ceres defenders who have an advantage from their positioning. However, they were a golden opportunity in the 21st minutes after Novri Setiawan was fouled in the penalty box and the referee gave the penalty for Persija.
Unfortunately, Bruno Matos wasn’t able to execute the penalty as Roland Mueller guessed his shot correctly and managed to save it. This was the second time that the Brazilian playmaker was unable to convert his chance from the spot. Before this match, he also failed to score a penalty against Kalteng Putra in the 2019 Piala Presiden’s quarter-final match.
However, the first-half statistics showed that Persija dominated the game, controlling 65% of possession. Macan Kemayoran was also leading on the duel success rate, aerial duel, and intercepts. But the other percentages show that Persija couldn’t maintain their gameplay and the visitor’s attacks were creating more chances. In the first half, the visitors managed a total of five shots while Persija only three.
Goals Party at the Second Half
In front of a packed crowd of 34.746 spectators, the home side looks eager not to disappoint. Seven hours before the kick-off Indonesian Police Department asked for the match to be played without any spectators during the election week, due to the latest political situation. But after long discussions, they finally allowed fans in to watch their side in this crucial match.
In the 50th minute, the hosts got their chance from a corner kick. A ball from Ismed Sofyan was delivered the ball into the penalty box and finished by Sandi Sute with a beautiful header which gave Macan Kemayoran the lead. Eight minutes later, the host doubled their advantage after Bruno Matos got a header pass from Novri Setiawan on the penalty box and shot from the box into the center of Mueller’s goal.
But Persija’s disaster started in the last 15 minutes as Miguel Tanton, who come on in the second half for Kevin Ingreso, scored a direct free-kick score to halved the hosts’ advantage after Ryuji Utomo fouled one of Ceres’ player nearly on the penalty box.
The Busmen looked to silence the thousands of Jakmania supporters. Persjia coach Ivan Kolev claimed that the visitors looked like ‘European’ teams with the number of foreign-born or naturalized players which took to the field for Ceres. Spanish goal-getter, Bienvenido Maranon, managed to find the equalizer with his head to deflate the atmosphere at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
Things got even worse for Persija when Mike Ott managed to complete the comeback in stoppage time, netting the winner for Ceres.
This result makes it harder for Persija to progress on to the next phase as Ceres remain on the top of the group with four wins from four.