Jeju flatten Thunder Castle
Buriram United suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat at the hands of South Korea’s Jeju United in their second Group G encounter of the AFC Champions League at home last night.
In another battle in the same group, Chinese giants Guangzhou Evergrande failed once again in their attempt to claim a victory, drawing Cerezo Osaka 0-0.
A better show was expected from the Thunder Castle, the reigning Thai League 1 champions who had impressed in their comeback 1-1 draw at Guangzhou a week ago.
Jeju went into the match aiming to resurrect their campaign after losing their first game to Osaka 1-0 last Wednesday.
A couple of minutes in, Magno Cruz passed the ball to midfielder Lee Chang-Min who fired a long, low drive into the far right corner of the net to give the K-League runners-up the lead.
Buriram striker Diogo Luis Santo’s curling free-kick after 15 minutes was warded off by Jeju goalkeeper Lee Chang-Keun.
The home team’s appeal before the 20-minute mark failed to earn them a penalty after Naruebodin Weerawatnodom was fouled by a Jeju defender.
However, a few seconds later, the referee awarded Jeju a spot kick when captain Jakkraphan Kaewprom scythed down Jin Seong-Uk inside the penalty area.
Brazilian striker Magno Cruz had little trouble in sending Buriram goalkeeper Sivarak Tedsungnoen the wrong way to double Jeju’s advantage and effectively dash the home team’s hopes.
The South Korean club packed their defence in the second half and Buriram found it difficult to make inroads.
However, the hosts had a couple of chances to score but Jakkraphan and Edgar Bruno were both off target.
Last night’s results left Buriram in fourth place in the group with just one point.
Big-spending Guangzhou, who won the continental title in 2013 and 2015, are two points behind leaders Osaka (four points) in third place, with Jeju taking over second spot with three points.
In Group H, two goals from Mu Kanazaki gave eight-time Japanese champions Kashima Antlers a 2-1 victory at at the home of Suwon Bluewings yesterday.