Bali United and Persib Bandung played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in Tuesday's 2023/24 Liga 1 Indonesia Championship Series semifinal first leg match in Gianyar, with David da Silva's last-minute goal ensuring that the two still has much to play for in this weekend's second leg. The match also saw history being made as the first VAR call in Indonesian domestic football history was done, that saw Persib being awarded with a penalty in the second half that was saved by Bali United goalkeeper Adilson Maringa.
Tuesday's first leg was at the Bali United Training Center at the shores of Lebih Beach, Sukawati with no spectators, due to the Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium being used for the AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers that was held around the same time.
Visitors Persib took the initiative to attack early on. The trio of Ciro Alves, David, and Febri Haryadi immediately put pressure on Bali United in the opening minutes.
Ciro had a chance to shoot from outside the penalty box in the eighth minute, but his shot was blocked by a defender.
Bali United countered with a threat in the 17th minute, but their shot went off target.
The Maung Bandung nearly broke the deadlock in the 26th minute with Ciro's effort, but the former Persikabo 1973 ace's shot hit the post.
Four minutes later, Ciro got another chance, but his excessive dribbling in the penalty area allowed the defender to take the ball away.
Bali United threatened again in the 37th minute with a one-two combination in the penalty area ending with a shot by Ricky Fajrin, but his effort went over the bar. The first half ended with a 0-0 draw.
In the second half, Bali United came out strong. Eber Bessa had a chance to shoot from outside the penalty box in the 46th minute, but goalkeeper Kevin Ray Mendoza saved it.
In the 50th minute, David tried to break through two defenders in the penalty area and fell, which led to the historic usage of VAR for the first time in Indonesian domestic football following it's successful implementation at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
After reviewing the VAR, the referee awarded a penalty, stating that David had been fouled by Jajang Mulyana. However, Maringa did well to deny David his goal from the spot.
Four minutes later, Bali United countered. I Made Andhika Wijaya broke through the right side of the penalty area and shot low, but the ball went wide.
In the 65th minute, Maringa again made a heroic save, stopping close-range shots from Ciro and Marc Klok.
The Serdadu Tridatu finally broke the deadlock in the 83rd minute with a powerful header from Jefferson Assis, with the Brazilian striker capitalizing on a rebound from Jajang's shot that had hit the post.
However, Persib managed to equalize with a header from David in injury time, precisely in the 90+9th minute. The intense match also saw a red card for Jajang just before the game ended.
Continue reading Bali United, Persib Play Out Entertaining Stalemate at Football Tribe Asia.
