Football Tribe SEA Editor
Buriram United were left stunned on Wednesday night, as hosts Ratchaburi inflicted their second defeat of the season after just three games.
The visitors took just over half an hour to open the scoring, as Ricardo Bueno met Rattanakorn Maikami’s delivery from a corner with a powerful header that found its way beyond Ukrit Wongmeema in goal. Buriram then doubled their lead before halftime in similar circumstances, with Andres Tunez rising this time to meet Sasalak Haiprakhon’s cross.
A two-goal lead for Buriram typically means the night is over, but fixtures between Ratchaburi and the seven-time Thai champions tend to serve up goal-fests. Dragons’ striker Yannick Boli missed a golden chance to half the deficit just before half time, and atoned for his error in the 58th minute when he latched on to Javier Patino’s excellent flick and dinked a finish over Siwarak and into the visitor’s net.
The side were level five minutes later, as Steven Langil’s low cross found Karaboue arriving late into the penalty area to fire a powerful first-time effort into the roof of the net. With the visitors still reeling, Ratchaburi struck again in the 74th minute with a showstopping goal from Philip Roller, who dodged two Buriram defenders at the edge of the box and fired a powerful shot into the bottom corner with his left foot.
As the home fans erupted into celebration, one would be forgiven for assuming the game was over as a contest, with the momentum so firmly in favor of the home side. Buriram, however, were determined to show the mental fortitude that has garnered them so much success in the past, as they hit back once again. Supachok Sarachart’s cross took a wicked deflection of Kiattisak Jiam-udom, completely catching goalkeeper Ukrit off guard and slipping into the top corner of the net.
Buriram were quick to collect the ball and sprint back to the penalty spot, hoping to score a fourth and emerge with all three points. However, the stars aligned for the hosts once again as former Buriram striker Patino got on the end of another delightful cross from Langil to score a fourth for his side in stoppage time and seal a remarkable win.
This result mirrors a similarly impressive 3-4 between these two sides in 2017, when Ratchaburi raced into a 3-goal lead away against Buriram, only to see it slowly chip away due to a goal from Diogo Luis Santo and a brace from Jaja Coelho. However, the side struck again in the final seconds of stoppage time to inflict Buriram’s only home loss of the 2017 campaign.