Steven Danis
Football Tribe Indonesia
Bali United once again proved their title credentials by beating Barito Putera 3-2 at the Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium on a sunny Sunday night. Despite winning, Bali United had to go through trials and tribulations for their three points, facing off against a Barito side who are unbeaten in four of their last matches, winning three of them.
Laskar Pangeran Antasari silenced the Sementon Dewata faithful as their veteran striker, Samsul Arif, opened the scoreline in the 9th minute. Barito were even awarded a penalty in the 27th minute after Leonard Tupamahu had fouled Rafael Silva in the penalty box. Unfortunately for Barito, Wawan Hendrawan was at hand to deny Rafael his penalty with a beautiful save.
Stung by the opener, Bali revved up their gears and managed to turn the result around before half-time. In the 14th minute, Bali were awarded their own penalty, which was successfully taken by Ilija Spasojević, before Willian Pacheco’s header in added time ensured that Bali would go into the break with a 2-1 lead.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, in the 59th minute, Serdadu Tridatu managed to score again, this time through their Dutch winger Melvin Platje. 3-1 down, Barito refused to give up and gave Bali a scare after captain Rizky Pora managed to take advantage of a quick countering pass from Yakob Sayuri to reduce the deficit in the 71st minute. Bali held on throughout the nervy last few minutes of the match though and the 3-2 win ensured that the 3 points are staying at the Dipta. With the win, Bali cemented their position as league leaders with 51 points from 23 matches, while Barito remained 12th with 26 points from 25 matches.
The early Sunday kick-off saw Borneo FC extend their unbeaten run to 8 games after drawing with PSIS Semarang at the Moch. Soebroto Stadium in Magelang. Playing at PSIS’ temporary home for the past couple of years, both Pesut Etam and Mahesa Jenar managed to entertain the crowd by playing out an exciting and exhilarating 2-2 draw.
Bottom-placed side Kalteng Putra managed to earn themselves a win on Gameweek 25 as they beat relegation rivals Persela Lamongan 2-0 at the Tuah Pahoe Stadium in Palangkaraya. The win came as a huge relief to the financial-stricken hosts, while Persela’s defeat was made even more sour by the fact that Laskar Joko Tingkir had to finish the match with 10 men after Mochammad Zaenuri was sent off by the referee 10 minutes before the end of the game. The defeat meant that Persela are now 15th on the standings, while Kalteng Putra are just one place below them, both teams having collected 23 points.