Persib's Dry Spell at Pusmania Continues With Defeat in First-Leg Semifinal
Jakarta. Pusamania Borneo Football Club defeated Persib Bandung 2-1 in the first-leg semifinal of the 2017 President's Cup at Segiri Stadium in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, on Thursday (02/03).
Persib coach Djadjang Nurdjaman, who admitted before the match that his team has a bad record when playing at Pusamania, graciously accepted the defeat.
"Congratulations to Pusamania; our performance was below par, it did not satisfy me," Djadjang was quoted as saying during the postmatch press conference.
The visitors disagreed with many of the referee's decisions during the game, which was also bemoaned by Djadjang and one of his players, Toni Sucipto.
"We were concerning with the referee's [bad] decisions, but we need to focus on the next leg in Bandung," the coach added.
"There were supposed to be many fouls during the game but the referee did not blow the whistle," Toni said.
The hosts scored their first goal in the game after 14 minutes when Reinaldo Elias da Costa put a header into the box after receiving a pass from a corner kick.
Persib center back Vladimir Vujovic equalized in the 44th minute, after a pass from Febri Hariyadi.
Pusamania's winning goal eventually came in the 67th minute when Patrich Wanggai scored with a header.
Arema Loss
In the other first-leg semifinal match of the day, Arema Football Club had to concede a 0-1 defeat to Semen Padang at Agus Salim Stadium in Padang, West Sumatra.
Brazilian Marcel Sacramento found the net from the penalty spot in the 59th minute, extending Nilmaizar's record as the only team that has not conceded any goals in the tournament so far.
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