Buriram fielded a mixed side in their last warm-up game before the league begins on February 9 at home to Ratchaburi. All three strikers were included and new Korean Jun-soo operated as a centre-back rather than his defensive midfield role.
On-loan defender Praweenwat played at left-back with youngster Sarawut on the right. Neither did enough to suggest they will be playing on Friday.
Although it was only a “friendly”, the visitors (now Korat) made their presence felt, with Diogo in particular coming in for some harsh treatment.
Edgar was unlucky with an overhead kick which flew narrowly wide with the keeper beaten.
Buriram took the lead in the 20th minute when a flowing move saw Diogo released down the right. He sent over an inviting cross which Edgar met with a firm header. The keeper managed to get a hand to the ball which fell for Samson to stoop and head into the empty net.
Korat then had a couple of chances to level. First a long range shot beat Siwarak but came back off the bar. Then the keeper turned a powerful downward header round the post to preserve Buriram’s lead.
There was not a lot of goalmouth action and the chances were few and far between for either side. The second-half was even worse with very little of note happening. The highlight of the whole match was Samson’s thundering overhead kick which tore into the net. However, the linesman raised his flag, for what is unclear. Replays showed he was certainly not offside.
Whether Buriram can play with Edgar, Samson and Diogo in the same side is not clear. What was evident in this match was that Diogo spent too much time on the flanks. He is still Buriram’s most potent striker and needs to be in the middle more.
Another concern is Korrakot. If you are going to have the luxury of a player staying out wide all the time, then the crosses need to be of a high quality. This is not the case with Korrakot and even his dead-ball deliveries were disappointing.
It will be interesting to see what the team will be next week as the jury is still out on the new signings.