Gian Chansrichawla
Football Tribe SEA Editor
Former champions Buriram and Chiangrai United advance to the semi-finals of the 2019 Thai League Cup, joined by T1 outsiders Prachuap FC and T2 promotion hopefuls Nongbua Pitchaya in the last four.
Buriram faced rivals Bangkok United for the second time in just four days, having recently played out a 1-1 draw at home in the league. Both sides were expected to rest players for their midweek clash given the Thai League’s harsh schedule and tight title race, but both sides went in full throttle in what is widely considered to be the lesser of the two domestic cups.
Both sides had a number of chances to break the deadlock in regulation time, with the busy schedule looking to wear the players down. Bangkok United had both the woodwork and goalkeeper Michael Falkesgaard to thank for keeping the scoreline level for much of the match. However, they themselves had a goal disallowed over a dubious offside call.
The game was a far cry from their tightly contested league clash last Sunday. The intensity had dropped considerably from the previous encounter, and the match as a whole was far more open, with abundant space being offered to both sides. Despite that, it took until the 112th minute for the game’s only goal, with Nacer Barazite finding the net shortly after the hosts missed a pair of golden chances to kill the game.
This result means that Buriram continue the hunt for their first league cup trophy since 2015, while Bangkok United will be forced to go all the way in the hotly contested FA Cup and Thai League in order to finally break their trophy-less run.
Meanwhile, Ekanit Panya scored the only goal of the game as defending champions Chiangrai United beat BG Pathum United 1-0 in their clash at the Leo Stadium. The 19-year-old attacker shined during the first half of the campaign on loan at Chiangmai FC, and has already made an impact since returning to his parent club during the mid-season transfer window.
These two fancied sides will be joined by Prachuap, who managed to overcome T2 side Police Tero. Form leaned in favor of the promotion hopefuls, who have won each of their last six games in the league, jumping into second place and looking like favorites to return to the top division. Meanwhile, one win in their last five league outings have put Prachuap in danger of slipping into the drop zone.
However, the top league side showed their class, opening the scoring after 18 minutes courtesy of Siroch Chatthong. New signing Simone Dia leveled the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark for Tero, but the Killer Wasps landed the knockout blow on 63 minutes courtesy of Phuritad Jarikanon. Prachuap striker Jean-Philippe Mendy missed a chance to double the lead from the penalty spot in stoppage time, but it made no difference to the final outcome.
Elsewhere, T3 side Ranong United managed a second consecutive run to the quarter-finals of the league cup, emulating the 2018 campaign which saw them beat Bangkok United and Ratchaburi to reach this stage. The Andaman Sharks fancied their chances of going one better when they drew T2 side Nongbua Pitchaya, arguably the easiest available opposition in the draw.
The Gamecocks have dropped from promotion hopefuls to mid-table obscurity after a seven-game winless run, leaving them nine points adrift of the last available promotion slot. Despite their poor run, Nongbua prevailed from the spot when the game ended 1-1 after 120 minutes of football.
As such, Prachuap and Nongbua remain rank outsiders in the face of former champions Buriram and Chiangrai. However, if the two favorites face each other in the semi-final round, it could open the door for a new winner of the competition.