JAKARTA -- Persija Jakarta coach Angelo Alessio was angry with his players who he thought played poorly in the first half against PSIS. Luckily, Persija finally defeated PSIS with a score of 2-1 in the continuation of the 2021/2022 Indonesian League 1 at the I Wayan Dipta Stadium, Gianyar, Bali, Thursday (6/1/2022).

"I was angry at half-time. If I could change eight players, I would replace eight at a time. We played badly, couldn't control the game and conceded goals in an unusual way," Alessio said in a virtual press conference after the match.

Persija actually took a 1-0 lead from PSIS in the 14th minute thanks to Marko Simic's header. However, a back line error meant that the Kemayoran Tigers conceded five minutes later through PSIS midfielder Eka Febri's kick. Eka continued the ball into the goal even though three Persija players had tried to block it.

At the start of the second half, Angelo Alessio made two substitutions. Taufik Hidayat enters to replace Braif Fatari and Alfriyanto Nico fills in for Osvaldo Haay.

Then, the new midfielder Ahmad Bustomi played starting in the 66th minute after Adrianus Dwiki was pulled out. As a result, Persija looked more comfortable with the ball and scored the winning goal in the 68th minute, also contributed by Marko Simic.

"In the second half, our performance was better and we were able to control the game. I am happy with these three points but we have to improve on our shortcomings to face the next game," said Alessio.

Persija defender Maman Abdurahman also admitted that his team's performance was not optimal in the first 45 minutes against PSIS. The opponent's goal, according to Maman, occurred because the squad was not focused. "We seemed to fall asleep in the first half. However, Alhamdulillah, we were able to win. Next, my friends and I must be more focused. There is a lot of homework for the game after this," said the 39-year-old footballer.

Eating Konate Hasn't Played

In the match against PSIS, the new midfielder of PersijaMakan Konate has not played yet. Angelo said that administrative problems hindered Konate's action in the 18th week of Liga 1 2021/2022 match.