Southeast Asia Indonesia

Double Delight for Indonesian Clubs in AFC Cup

 Steven Danis

Football Tribe Indonesia

 

This week, two of Indonesia’s representative clubs, PSM Makassar and Persija Jakarta, closed their journey in 2019 AFC Cup Group Stage with a victory. While PSM will go through the ASEAN zone semi-final,  Persija must say goodbye, despite winning ahead of their first game of 2019 Liga 1 this weekend.

Last Tuesday, PSM Makassar picked up three points against Laotian league champions, Lao Toyota FC. Of the regular starters, only Marc Klok and goalkeeper Rivky Mokodompit played in the first eleven, with several substitute players like Zulkifli Syukur, Rasyid Bakrie and Guy Junior making the lineup. 

Lao Toyota coach Jun Fukuda lined up with his strongest play with his best players, hoping they can give their best in front of the home supporters, and also avenge a 7-3 loss at the Pakansari Stadium. Even playing with their B-squad, Juku Eja earned 3-0 win at the Vientiane KM16 National Stadium, but the hosts did not lose easily, presenting a threat to PSM as they dominated the match for the first 10 minutes.

PSM had to wait until just two minutes before the half-time to score their first goal. Bayu Gatra made a run down the right wing and sent a low pass into the penalty box for Rasyid Bakrie to finish and give his side the lead.

PSM did not press Lao Toyota too heavily, and the gap between the defensive and midfielders allowed the hosts to fire a couple of shots from the edge of PSM’s penalty box. Luckily, not of their strikes found Rivky’s net for the entire 90 minutes.

 

Goal Party in Jakarta

While PSM scored three goals and bring three points back to Indonesia, in the capital, Persija Jakarta crushed Myanmar representative, Shan United, 6-1 on Wednesday night. Persija gave their best despite their elimination, matching the goal tally they had for their previous five matches in just one game to register their second win of the group stage. 

Last season, they progressed to the zonal semi-final, but this season, despite winning the 2018 Liga 1, Macan Kemayoran’s performance looked significantly downgraded performance. The Gelora Bung Karno stadium was far from full, and only 8.633 eyes watched as Bruno Matos opened the scoring after six minutes. 

Bruno became the creator of the second goal after making a one-two combination with Rohit Chand, and the chance was finished by Novri Setiawan on the 18th minute.

The visitors from Myanmar were then subjected to a nightmare in the second-half as Persija scored two quick goals, courtesy Heri Susanto in the 47th minutes and Riko Simanjuntak ten minutes later. Zin Min Tun managed to slightly reduce the gap to 4-1 with ten minutes remaining, but  Bruno Matos completed his heroic performance, scoring a brace in the dying minute to round out Persija’s rout. 

PSM Makassar will face promoted side Semen Padang on Monday night at the Mattoanging stadium, their regular home that couldn’t be used for games in the AFC Cup. Meanwhile, Persija will fly away to Banjarmasin and face Barito Putera on the same day.