Steven Danis
Football Tribe Indonesia
Persela Lamongan went out of the relegation zone after yesterday’s narrow win against Persebaya Surabaya in an East Java Derby match in the 24th Gameweek of the 2019 Liga 1. Playing at the Surajaya Stadium in front of their LA Mania supporters, Alex dos Santos Gonçalves and his teammates managed to end their 5-match winless run, a run that saw Laskar Joko Tingkir lose three out of those five matches.
Both Persela and Persebaya went out with their full teams, with the visitors also on a mission to end their own winless run. Wolfgang Pikal’s men are winless in four, drawing 2 and losing 2, including a heavy 4-1 defeat in Gianyar at the hands of Persib Bandung in Bajul Ijo‘s last match.
Persela’s Japanese midfielder, Kai Hirano, acted as his team’s playmaker, orchestrating Persela’s attacks with his freekicks that overwhelmed Persebaya’s defense. However, despite the good supply of the ball, Persela’s fearsome attacking trio of Alex dos Santos Gonçalves, Rafinha, and Delvin Rumbino couldn’t make good use of the chances presented to them, thus the first half finished as a goalless affair.
The deadlock was broken in the 63rd minute and it was Persela who drew first blood. Persebaya’s Miswar Saputra bundled a header from Alex and Malik Risaldi was there to finish the job with the rebound. Stung by that goal, Persebaya sent out a barrage of shots at Persela goalie Dwi Kuswanto, with one such chance coming from David da Silva in the last ten minutes of the match. The former Pohang Steelers man, now in his second stint with Persebaya, took advantage of Dwi leaving his goal unguarded and unleashed a volley. However, Persela’s Arif Satria was there to clear the danger away with his head.
The 1-0 win meant that Persela went up to 15th on the table, while Persebaya remained 8th.
Bhayangkara and Persib Share the Spoils
Another match that was held last night was between hosts Bhayangkara FC and Persib Bandung, at South Jakarta’s PTIK Stadium. Persib are looking to build on from their 4-1 rout over Persebaya last week, while Bhayangkara, having won 2-0 against TIRA-Persikabo in their previous “away game” that was held at the PTIK instead of TIRA-KABO’s Pakansari Stadium, are looking to gain their own momentum as well.
Both teams deployed 4-3-3 formations for the game, which was played in a high tempo with various long balls and crosses. This was to accommodate the two attractive young wingers playing for both teams, with Adam Alis Setyano representing Bhayangkara and Febri Hariyadi playing for Persib.
Persib looked confident as Kevin van Kippersluis blasted a long-range shot in the opening stages of the matches, the shot itself being saved confidently by Wahyu Tri Nugroho. Bhayangkara themselves also looked threatening during the match, with Bruno Matos constantly threatening I Made Wirawan’s goals with his tricky dribblings and powerful shots. The game went on in an exciting and intense manner, however until the referee blows for full time, no goals were scored, thus the match ended as a 0-0 draw.