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Saturday, January 23, 2010

 

Persib v Persebaya 4-2

Another cracking advert for Indonesian, this time in the white hot atmosphere of Jalak Harupat with a large away following competing with a passionate home support on the terraces for bragging rights.

Persebaya were always playing catch up after Christian Gonzales gave the home team the lead, reacting to Suchao's neat flick before the visitor's defence.

Static defending at a corner saw Nova Arianto's scuffed shot trickle over the line before Taufik pulled one back for Persebaya.

Following on from Ari Suyono's super show this afternoon for Sriwijaya it was refreshing to see more Indonesian players dominating in midfield. Atep did play some AFF Cup games back in 2007 but has since fallen under the national team radar but all season he has been one of Persib's more consistent performers.

Eka Ramdhani has been highly rated for a while now but today he put in a mature performance full of guile and skill.

Gonzales scored his second, lobbing the Persebaya keeper in the second half before Andi Odang pulled one back yet again for the determined Surabaya team.

I like Odang. He reminds me a lot of Michael Owen. Fast, instinct in front of goal. I understand he's the wrong side of 30 but I'm still wondering where he has been over the years. Some of his finishes this season have been pure class. He's not one to blast, rather he bides his time, picks his spot.

Hilton Moreira made it 4-2 at the end for a three points Persib deserved. Bit as has happened so many times this season, Persebaya go away empty handed and coach Danurwindo will again be fearing for his future. Which just proves that while exciting, attacking football will always keep soppy buggers like me happy, it's wins that count.

Claude Ngon A Djam came on three minutes before half time, why do coaches do that, but offered little while John Tarkpor again turned in a good shift in the middle.

The big question now is will the Persebaya fans, who left a trail of destruction on their way to Bandung, go home quietly? The game seemed to pass off without incident on the terraces, despite a slightly delayed kick off, but you can be sure the media will be following these young scallywags all the way home.

A word about the ref and players. It would have only taken a spark to see things kick off eitther on the field or terraces. The ISL appointed one of their most experienced referees and he did a good job. But so to did the players who did their job and did it well, keeping a lid on their emotions.

One player did let things get to him and he was quickly subbed, smart work by the coach in the circumstances but it would have been better for all concerned had the player in question did the same as everyone else.

Two quality games in one day with four teams who wanted to play football.

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