Buriram made hard work of seeing off Osotspa in a game that was littered by too many free-kicks. Along with an over-fussy referee, the game had no flow and Buriram just couldn’t get into their stride. It took a Tunez penalty just before the interval and a late Macena strike to finally secure the three points.
In the second minute a Suchao free-kick was headed out to Anawin outside the box but his effort flew just past the left-hand post.There was little action after that before the visitors had the ball in the net in the eighteenth minute following a free-kick but it was rightly adjudged offside.
After twenty-four minutes Naruphol received a yellow card for a number of fouls despite his protests. A minute later a quick throw released Theerathon in the box but he shot tamely at the keeper. Diogo then chased a ball down the left and managed to keep it in play.
He tried to give himself a better angle before shooting into the side-netting with two well-placed colleagues screaming for a pass. Five minutes before the interval Theerathon broke down the left before picking out Suchao in space but the Buriram skipper missed the ball completely.
A minute later Osotspa were awarded a free-kick twenty-five yards out and the shot flew just wide with Siwarak beaten. The sides looked to be going in at half-time level but first Diogo got on the end of a long ball but sent his low shot agonizingly wide.Immediately after Buriram were awarded a penalty.
The ball bounced up and struck an Osotspa defender on the hand and just to make certain Diogo was felled after he collected the loose ball. The Buriram players were not exactly rushing to volunteer to take the kick. Hardly surprising with Buriram’s penalty record this season.
However, Tunez strode forward and coolly sent the keeper the wrong way with a firm low shot into the left-hand corner. So the deadlock was broken and Buriram just about deserved their lead but the performance was far from convincing.
The second-half almost got off to a dreadful start with Naraphol getting in Tunez’s way leaving the visitors to break clear but the resulting shot was wide. It got worse for the big defender in the fifty-first minute when another long ball caused problems in the Buriram defence.
A complete lack of communication between Siwarak and Tunez saw them collide and after lengthy treatment Tunez had to be substituted. Seven minutes later another long ball was not dealt with by Buriram’s hesitant defenders and this time the lively Osatspa number eleven made no mistake.
On the hour another long ball forward eluded the home defence but fortunately the lob was just too high.Two minutes later Diogo should have restored Buriram’s advantage but when he met a low cross from the right he leaned back and fired high over the bar.
Diogo was in the thick of it a minute later when he was clearly brought down in the area. To the hitman’s horror the referee reached for his yellow card for diving. Not a great decision! Buriram carved out another good chance in the sixty-seventh minute but yet again it went begging.
Suchao fed Theerathon down the left and the midfielder’s perfect low cross found Naraphol in a great position but for the fourth game in a row the ball ended up in the crowd behind the goal. A minute later Buriram struggled to deal with another through ball but this time they managed to scramble the ball away.
In the seventy-fifth minute Naraphol was substituted and almost immediately Buriram struck. A long ball down the right found Theerathon who looked up and picked out Macena whose low shot was half-blocked but it had enough power to roll over the line.
Buriram went in search of a killer third and Macena headed an Anawin cross wide when well-placed and Theerathon fired over the bar. Diogo had a great chance in stoppage time but side-footed the ball straight at the keeper.
Buriram ground out the result and the second-half was better than the first. However, the midfield showed their ineptness in front of goal again and the defence was lost without Tunez or Seul Ki. Must do better,as I have written on many school reports !