Newly-crowned Liga 1 Indonesia champions PSM Makassar finished their season in style with a thumping 3-0 win over Borneo FC Samarinda at the Gelora BJ Habibie Stadium in Parepare on Sunday.
Having suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat away at PSIS Semarang in their last outing – albeit with a second-string side – PSM head coach Bernardo Tavares once again deployed his big guns for their last league match of the season, knowing all too well that a win would sweeten an already-festive victory celebration at both Parepare and Makassar.
A sublime free-kick from Yakob Sayuri in the 12th minute gave PSM the lead, before Yakob’s twin brother Yance Sayuri doubled the Juku Eja‘s advantage after he made good use of a Wiljan Pluim pass.
Captain Pluim then sealed the win for PSM with his goal in the 60th minute.
Following the match, Pluim led his teammates onto the pitch as they accepted the Liga 1 trophy, with the Dutchman being given the honors to lift it. Pluim, who had made over 100 league appearances for PSM since his arrival in 2016, was also awarded the league’s most valuable player award, while Tavares was named as the head coach of the year.
Despite losing, Borneo had something to celebrate too on Sunday, as their star striker Matheus Pato was crowned this season’s top scorer with 25 goals, while his acrobatic goal against Bali United on April 3rd was named as goal of the season.
Persija Jakarta youngster Rio Fahmi won the young player of the season, beating PSM’s Ananda Raehan in the process, while Bhayangkara FC was crowed as the league’s fair play team of the season.