Buriram show class in first league win
Buriram United’s mission to defend their Thai League title got off to an impressive start as they brushed aside a spirited challenge by Bangkok United to claim a 5-3 win in a high-scoring thriller yesterday.
Buriram United chairman Newin Chidchob, who was present in his team’s dugout, has been predicting that the Thunder Castle will defend their title and Bangkok United are the favourites to finish runners-up this year.
Performances of both teams in yesterday’s match, which produced two magnificent hat-tricks, did enough to back Newin’s claims to a great extent.
Last year’s runners-up SCG Muang Thong United also had a winning start by edging Nakhon Ratchasima 1-0 on Saturday but their show paled in front of the act put on by Buriram and Bangkok United yesterday.
Andres Tunez’s angled header off a corner kick from fellow defender Teerathon Bunmathan found the net in the 18th minute as Buriram United surged into a 1-0 lead.
Bangkok United midfielder Dragan Boskovic made the most of the space and time gifted to him inside the box by Buriram defenders to level the score seven minutes later.
Buriram did not take much time to reclaim the advantage when Tunez was on target from the spot.
Buriram’s Korean duo Ko Seul-Ki and Kim Seung-Yong also claimed their share of the limelight.
Ko struck home three minutes before half-time and Kim was on target seven minutes into the second half to give Buriram a massive 4-1 upper hand.
Bangkok United momentarily lost hope of staging a comeback and put on a listless show but Boskovic pulled one back in the 67th and the home team, playing at their new stadium at Thammasat University, were back in the game.
When Tunez completed his hat-trick three minutes later to make it 5-2 for Buriram, it failed to deflate Bangkok United as they kept attacking.
Boskovic grabbed his third of the match from the penalty spot in the 77th to narrow the gap to 5-3. The penalty was awarded when an Ekachai Sumre lob was handled by Theerathon inside the box.
Boskovic’s conversion led to an increase in his team’s efforts to pull off an improbable draw but these fail to bear results.
Chonburi were reduced to 10 men but still succeeded in picking up three points as they edged newly promoted Pattaya United 2-1 at home.
Pattaya United shocked Chonburi fans when Soony Saad gave them a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute before Nurul Sriyankem fired home the equaliser in the 15th minute to restore order for Chonburi.
Chonburi suffered a setback in the 39th minute when Suttinun Phukhom was given his marching orders after a second bookable offence.
The hosts clinched the winner when Rodrigo Vergillio picked up a loose ball and blasted it into the net from a close range in the 67th minute.
Ratchaburi gave newly promoted BBCU their first taste of life in the top flight as they recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory at their home ground with Heberty Fernandes and Yannick dos Santos scoring for the hosts.