Arema opened their Liga 1 campaign with a thorough 4-0 victory over Adhhyaksa at home on Thursday evening. The hosts dominated from the first whistle, establishing control before the half-hour mark and never looking back. To be fair, this wasn't a match that required much recovery — Arema simply played at a level their opponents couldn't reach.
A. Farisi broke the deadlock in the sixth minute, a quick strike that set the tone for what followed. Diego Landis doubled the advantage fourteen minutes later, and by then Adhhyaksa were already on the back foot. Betinho picked up a yellow card eighteen minutes in, and M. Konate followed suit at twenty-two — two bookings that told their own story.
MV added a third just before the break on sixty-six minutes of regular time, rounding off a first half that left Adhhyaksa chasing shadows. The visitors made two changes at the interval, bringing on Galuh Nata and Walisson Maia in a half-hearted attempt to shift momentum. And here's the thing — when a team concedes three goals before the break, substitutions rarely change the complexion of a game.
Arema continued to press, and Douglas Cruz joined the list of booked players at fifty-two minutes. A. Dewangga went off for a yellow at fifty-seven, and then came the wave of substitutions. Careca entered at sixty-five, followed by Dewangga and Landis both being replaced at sixty-six. M. Konate was taken off at seventy-four, Sergio Mendonca came on at seventy-five, and MV was swapped for someone else at eighty-two.
M. Zijlstra scored the fourth goal at eighty-five minutes, a late flourish that made the result unassailable. Vinicius Baiano received a yellow card in stoppage time, but the damage was long done. Arema ground out the win without really being challenged after the opening twenty minutes.
Both sides sat at the top of the table with zero points and zero games played before kickoff — this was their first outing. The result puts Arema in a comfortable position early on, while Adhhyaksa will need to regroup quickly. By then, they'll be looking at a long season ahead.