Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Singapore: A dominant attacking display in the first half laid the foundation for Indonesia’s Persipura Jayapura to record a 3-1 victory over Singapore’s Warriors FC in the opening AFC Cup Group E match at Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday.
Persipura’s adventurous approach translated into goals for Lancine Kone and Boaz Salossa in the first half, with Nelson Alom adding a third just before the hour mark.
Substitute Andy Ahmad pulled one back for the hosts midway in the second half, but it was not enough as the Indonesian side bagged three points.
“(Marin) Vidosevic had no speed although he was tall, and their entire back four was flat,” said Persipura assistant coach Metusalach Dwaramury.
“We also know how Singapore club sides tend to play, so that made it easy for us to play through balls past them to expose their flaws at the back.”
Persipura dominated proceedings from the first whistle and signalled their intentions with several chances coming close in the opening moments.
And they took the lead on the half hour mark when Salossa held off the challenge of Warriors centre-back Marin Vidosevic to feed the ball to an unmarked Kone to score from inside the penalty area.
Indonesia international Salossa extended the lead four minutes later when he turned and volleyed a first-time shot that dipped beyond the fingertips of goalkeeper Neezam Aziz and into the top left corner.
But after failing to create any meaningful chances in the first 45 minutes, Warriors came out stronger after the break as they pressed to find a way through the Persipura defence.
However, it was Persipura who put themselves in an unassailable position two minutes before the hour mark when Robertino Pugliara robbed the ball off Vidosevic and squared it to Alom who slotted home low at the far post.
Ahmad pulled one back for the Singapore champions in the 69th minute when his speculative shot from outside the area hit the crossbar before Persipura goalkeeper Dede Sulaiman fumbled the ball over the line.
The Warriors, though, failed to threaten the goal in the final moments despite dominating possession as the 2014 semi-finalists saw out the game.
“We clearly gave away two easy goals, and the second goal we simply stood still to allow them to score from a throw-in,” said Warriors coach Alex Weaver.
“I am very disappointed with the whole group. The standards we usually set, they were nowhere in what we saw tonight.”
Photo: WSG