Persib sealed a 3-1 victory over Persela on Thursday to extend its winning streak to five in a row and dethrone Bhayangkara from the top position. This marked another convincing performance from Roberts Albert’s boys who remain unbeaten after 11 league games.
Despite a few changes in the line-up composition, Persib enjoyed a strong lead and found an opening six minutes into the game.
‘Maung Bandung’ took the lead when a through pass from Mohammed Rashid met overlapping Geoffrey Castillion, who beat an offside trap to go one on one with the keeper and cooly finish with a right-footed strike.
It was Catillion’s second goal of the season, having netted his first in the previous game against Persipura. This also equalled his last season’s tally when the Dutch forward scored two goals after three games.
Despite showing some vulnerabilities at the back, Persib managed to double the lead as Erwin Ramdani scored a tap-in following a scrimmage resulted from Marc Klok’s free kick.
Erwin, who started for the first time this season, celebrated the goal with full of emotions as he wiped tears on his face, before running to the bench to acknowledge the supports from other members of the team.
Shortly after, a quick counter from Persela earned them a goal to reduce the deficit.
But eleven minutes later, Rashid scored the winning goal with a massive strike from inside the box. His first touch before unleashing the thunderous right was equally enjoyable to see.
Rashid, who always started in all of Persib’s games so far, has became the team’s top scorer with five goals.
A couple of changes was made at the beginning of the second half, as Alberts looked secured and wanted to rest some players while giving minutes play to the others. That was Persib’s 5th game in just 19 days.
Despite a few clear chances to add the margin, including a point blank header from Wander Luiz, the final score remained unchanged and Persib came home with another victory in its bag.
It remains unclear when Persib will play again or which team it will face as the operator has yet to release the fixtures. But according to the previous plan, the next series will be held in East Java.
Persib is to face six remaining opponents before the first half of the season concludes – Persiraja, Persija, Madura Unit, Persik, Persebaya, and Arema
Photo: persib.co.id
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