Football
John Duerden, Asia correspondent 7y

Peter Odemwingie scores fourth goal for Madura United in Indonesia

Former English Premier League forward Peter Odemwingie moved to the top of the Indonesian goal scoring charts with his fourth goal in only his fourth start for Madura United.

The ex-Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion winger, who arrived in East Java in early April, gave Madura a first-half lead at home to Perseru Serui in a game that ended 1-1 on Monday night.

Odemwingie, who had scored the only goal of the game in Madura's 1-0 win at Persija Jakarta four days earlier, took only 22 minutes to find the target against the struggling visitors.

The former Nigeria international rose at the far post to nod home a Slamet Nurcahyono free kick from the right-hand side, his first headed goal in Indonesian football.

Perseru hit back with the equaliser nine minutes before the break through Mariando Uropmabin.

Madura proceeded to push forward in a bid to restore their lead. But they had to settle for a point that moves them into fifth in the standings, three points behind early leaders Persib Bandung.

"It was a well-taken goal," said Madura coach Gomes De Oliveira. "We have a number of players who can score and not just Peter, but Peter is getting into good positions to score goals."

The Brazilian boss was frustrated with the dropping of two points following a lapse of concentration at the back and a failure to take chances in attack.

"We were impatient going forward and could not make the most of our opportunities," De Oliveira said. "The result is disappointing. But we have to look ahead. We must take points in the next game."

Perseru coach Yusak Sutanto paid tribute to his team's battling performance.

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"This was a tough game for us and it took us 18 hours to get here," Sutanto said.

"After the home defeat to PSM last week, the players were motivated to bounce back and we worked hard today to get the point."

Odemwingie will be in action again on Sunday with a tough trip to third-placed Arema.

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