Buriram fielded a young side in their Champions League clash in Korea with FC Seoul. It was a bold move but Buriram played some attractive football without really creating clear chances and the home side strolled to a 2-1 victory. Buriram nearly fell behind in the third minute when a right-wing cross was headed back across goal and Siwarak did well to save an acrobatic overhead kick.
He had to save with his feet three minutes later before Seul-Ki fired straight at the keeper from long distance. Seoul had a great chance to take the lead in the tenth minute when a pull-back from the right byline was sidefooted wide.Siwarak had to be alert in the twentieth minute, rushing out to kick away a through ball.
Three minutes later Seoul did take the lead when a right-wing cross found Damianovic unmarked between two defenders and the big striker thumped a header past a helpless Siwarak. Shortly after a Theerathon free-kick from the left caused problems in the Seoul defence but no-one managed to get a clear shot in.
Four minutes from the interval, Theerathon inexplicably handled a harmless ball into the box. It was a clear penalty but the referee gave a free-kick just outside the box. However, Buriram’s reprieve was short-lived when the cross was headed in by Yong Woo to effectively seal the three points.
Theerathon was replaced by Anawin at half-time and Buriram started the second-half brightly, moving the ball about well. However, Seoul were firmly in control and Buriram really didn’t look like scoring. Indeed, the home side were denied again by Siwarak in the fifty-fourth minute, diving to his left.
A minute later Adriano spurned a great chance to increase his impressive Champions League tally but fired over the crossbar when completely unmarked. Out of the blue, Buriram finally scored their first goal in the Champions League in the sixty-fifth minute when Tunez slotted in a penalty after Sittichok was flattened in the area whilst challenging for a high ball.
However, there was to be no comeback from Buriram as Seoul were content to close the game down . Suchao came on and to their credit Buriram kept going to the end but there was no-one up front to really trouble the home defence. Indeed, it was Tunez who caused a few problems with a couple of forays up the field later in the game.
Buriram certainly regained some pride following the hammering in the home tie but the harsh reality is, there was a huge gulf in class and goals are going to be hard to come by before the return of Diogo in June.