PSM Makassar striker Everton Nascimento had his fair share of doubters after being unable to score any goals for the Juku Eja throughout the 2022 Piala Presiden as well as their first AFC Cup group stage match of the season, however, those doubters were silenced on Monday night as the Brazilian scored a brace that helped PSM win 3-1 against Singapore’s Tampines Rovers, a result that placed PSM in a favorable position going into the final set of group stage matches.
Group H of this year’s AFC Cup was a unique group, as it consists of three teams instead of the usual four due to the withdrawals of Myanmar sides Shan United and Hanthawaddy United from the competition. As such, with only the group winners and the best runners-up out of the three ASEAN groups advancing to the knockouts, PSM were afforded little room of error if they wish to qualify out of their group.
After drawing 0-0 with group hosts Kuala Lumpur City, PSM were faced with a must-win match against Tampines at the KLFA Stadium. The Juku Eja must overcome the Stags and hope that both Tampines and Kuala Lumpur will play out a favorable result in order for them to qualify out of Group H.
Things didn’t go smoothly for PSM initially after Zehrudin Mehmedovic gave Tampines the lead in the 29th minute with a screamer from distance, however luck soon shifted into the Juku Eja‘s side after Tampines midfielder Christopher van Huizen was sent-off after receiving a straight red card. Having named a number of youngsters in his starting lineup, PSM head coach Bernardo Tavares seized the opportunity to introduce his heavy hitters, initially throwing both Everton and Yakob Sayuri into the fray in the 36th minute.
The duo’s introduction allowed PSM to slowly bombard their way into the Tampines defense and said bombardment became more intensive once Yance Sayuri and Rasyid Bakri were introduced on half-time. Almost immediately after the start of the second half, PSM managed to draw level through young academy product Rizky Eka Pratama, who thundered the ball home past Syazwan Buhari in the Tampines goal.
The introduction of Muhammad Arfan as PSM’s final substitution allowed the Juku Eja to further overwhelmed their stricken opponents, however it took them until the 78th minute to finally take the lead. Receiving the ball from captain Wiljan Pluim, Everton squeezed his way past two Tampines defenders before finishing home from close-range, breaking his goal drought and ensuring that he’s now up and running as PSM’s projected main striker.
Everton’s presence proved to be a scourge for the Tampines defense and as the Juku Eja pushed forward to score more goals, Syazwan made the fateful error of fouling Everton within the area. The Brazilian elected himself to take the penalty and he did his assignment superbly, rounding off PSM’s convincing 3-1 win over Tampines.
With four points from two games, PSM sat nicely on top of Group H, but Tavares’ men would have to rely on a favorable result from June 30’s match between Tampines and Kuala Lumpur to qualify into the knockouts.