Tuesday, March 5 2024 – 20:03 WIB
VIVA – Persiraja Banda Aceh hosts North Maluku (Malut) United in the first leg of the battle for third place in Liga 2 2023/2024. The match will take place at Langsa Stadium, Tuesday 5 March 2024.
Appearing in front of their own supporters, Persiraja immediately took control of the game from the early minutes. A number of opportunities were obtained, one of which was through Andik Vermansyah. However, his effort was still thwarted by goalkeeper Ray Redondo.
North Maluku launched a counterattack in the 40th minute, only for Finky Pasamba’s shot to be blocked by goalkeeper M Fahri. The score ended goalless in the first half.
After the break, the duel became even fiercer. North Maluku dominated the match a little more. Entering the middle of the second half, the atmosphere in the match heated up.
In the 79th minute, a bottle throwing incident was carried out by Persiraja supporters at the linesman. That moment occurred when Persiraja controlled the ball.
Initially, the linesman raised the flag, but the middle referee did not see it. Therefore, as soon as Persiraja played the ball, the referee only stopped the game after seeing the flag raised by the linesman.
This made Persiraja player Rizky Yusuf Nasution approach the line judge and make contact. Not long after, the crowd threw water bottles into the field.
The commotion broke out again during injury time. Al Muzani was violated in the forbidden box by North Maluku defender Jeong Ho-min. But the referee did not move and the match continued, which made the Persiraja players furious.
Zikri Ardiansyah appeared to confront the referee who was then followed by Andik Vermansah. The hot situation then caused the fans to come onto the field.
The referee then appeared to leave the field because of the situation that threatened him. The players from both teams were waiting on the field, some of them bowed their heads wearily regretting what had happened. Caught on camera, Andik seemed to be crying on the field.
In the end the match was decided to end with a score of 0-0. The decision was taken in an emergency meeting after the match was deemed no longer conducive to continuing.
The heat of this match is understandable because it is a promotion deciding match. The winning team of this match will get the final promotion ticket to League 1.
But there is still a second leg match which will be held on March 9. Malut United will take turns hosting Persiraja in the second leg at the Madya Stadium, Jakarta.
