PSM Makassar made Indonesia proud on Tuesday night after they’ve managed to win 2-1 over Kedah Darul Aman in the 2022 AFC Cup ASEAN zonal semifinals, becoming the first Indonesian team to progress all the way into the competition’s zonal final in the process. The Juku Eja, who ended the game with nine men, managed to thwart off a late fightback from Kedah to come out on top of their zonal semifinal match, which ensures their place in the history books.
For their zonal semifinal match, PSM host Kedah at Bali United’s Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium, with plenty of the Juku Eja‘s faithful Maczman supporters making the flight from Makassar to Gianyar in support of their beloved team.
With the Dipta being effectively turned into a “home away from home” of some sorts, PSM flew out of the blocks right after kick-off, with Everton Nascimento threatening Ifwat Akmal’s goal as early as the third minute of the match.
Captain Wiljan Pluim, Kenzo Nambu, and Yakob Sayuri came close for PSM in the opening sixteen minutes, with Ifwat and the Kedah defense being forced to work hard to ward off any attempts from the Juku Eja as they stamped their dominance early in the match.
Ifwat was then called into action again in the 25th minute to deny Muhammad Arfan’s effort, with Pluim having struck the outside of the post only seconds earlier, before the 26-year old goalie reflexively saved another Arfan attempt shortly afterwards.
All that pressure from PSM inevitably caused Kedah’s defenses to finally buckle in the 31st minute. Everton managed to find Pluim, with the Dutchman sending the ball wide towards youngster Rizky Eka Pratama. Rizky, a South Sulawesi native who’s having a breakout season under the tutelage of head coach Bernardo Tavares, sent a precise pass towards an unmarked Yakob, who easily slid home past Ifwat.
The second half saw more of the same from PSM, the Juku Eja going straight towards the hapless Canaries’ jugular. Nine minutes after the restart, lanky Cape Verdean defender Yuran Fernandes managed to smash home a header from an Arfan corner to double PSM’s advantage, setting the hosts up for a smooth sail towards the finish line.
Or so PSM thought. In the 62nd minute, the Juku Eja found themselves playing with 10 men after Yuran was sent off following a second yellow card after a scything challenge on Kedah’s Ronald Ngah.
With PSM’s defensive lynchpin gone, Kedah slowly grew themselves back into contention, with substitute Fayyadh Zulkifli seeing his deflected shot going wide and a long-ranged effort from Al-Hafiz Harun striking the crossbar.
Fayyadh did eventually pull one back for Kedah in the 86th minute with a low shot that went past young goalkeeper Reza Arya Pratama, setting up a tense and nervous few minutes for PSM. The referee’s decision to give a 7-minute injury-time added more tension to PSM’s nerves as they dug deep to hang onto their slender lead.
PSM ended up finishing the match with nine men following Agung Mannan’s dismissal after the defender had received his second yellow of the night, but nonetheless the Juku Eja did well to retain their advantage into full-time.
History was made after the final whistle as PSM became the first Indonesian team to advance all the way into the AFC Cup ASEAN zonal final. Since the establishment of the competition’s current format in 2017, the furthest any Indonesian team had gone was the zonal semifinals, which was done by Persija Jakarta in 2018 and PSM themselves in 2019.
PSM will travel away to either Viettel FC or Kuala Lumpur City for their zonal final this August 24th, with Kuala Lumpur traveling to Ho Chi Minh City to take on Hanoi-based Viettel for the last ticket to the zonal final on Wednesday night.