Thunder Castle Back on Form
Not to be bested, Buriram United were eager to return to form after their opening day defeat at the hands of newly-promoted Police Tero. Coach Bozidar Bandovic returned to the touchline for this match, having missed their last outing to attend his father’s funeral in Serbia.
It seems like his presence made a world of difference as Buriram looked sharp and energetic from the get-go. It took just four minutes for the Thunder Castle to make the crowd roar again, with Supachok Sarachart skipping past a pair of defenders and hitting a slightly scuffed shot which deflected over the diving goalkeeper and into the goal.
Chonburi spurned a couple of golden chances to equalize in the 14th and 25th minutes respectively, opening the door for Buriram to double their lead before half time. Supachok was once again the man to undo the Chonburi defense, latching onto Sasalak Haiprakhon’s cross and poking the ball past the goalkeeper.
The Sharks were then reduced to ten just minutes before half time, as defender Junior Lopes was dismissed for a shirt-pull which denied what was likely to have been a hattrick for Supachok. Brazilian striker Ricardo Bueno missed the resulting free-kick but eventually got himself on the scoresheet in the 50th minute before right-back Narubadin Weerawatnodom rounded off the rout with a fourth just six minutes later.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Chiangrai United went two goals behind against Suphanburi, shipping goals to Kasidech Wettayawong and Eliandro in the 13th and 16th minutes respectively. However, despite their fatigue from the Champions League, the Beetles were able to rescue the result in the final minutes of the game, courtesy of goals from Sanukran Thinjom and Chotipat Poomkaew.
Police Tero followed up their aforementioned shock opening day win over Buriram with another excellent performance away against Trat. The Fire Dragons had the majority of chances in the opening stages, and eventually took the lead courtesy of an impressive solo effort from Jaturong Pimkoon. Trat restored parity thanks to Kang Soo-Il’s first goal for the club, but strikes from Kirati Kaewsombat and Greg Houla saw the visitors grab a 3-1 win.
Bangkok United also collected their second consecutive win of the season over Muangthong United on Sunday, as did Ratchaburi during their trip to Sukhothai.
These results leave Port, Bangkok United, Police Tero and Ratchaburi with six points out of a possible six, while Trat, Rayong and Muangthong have failed to pick up any points from their first two fixtures.
