Buriram were held to a goalless draw by a Bangkok Glass side who pushed the rules to the extreme in their attempt to avoid defeat. They showed little interest in winning the game and made sure that Buriram could not get into any attacking rhythm with a string of fouls in all areas of the pitch.
Buriram were not helped by a referee who failed to stamp his authority on the game early enough and who allowed the game to end in complete farce as players, officials and coaching staff were engaged in heated exchanges. All this stemmed from an incident in the final minute.
Glass’ Ikaimbi took out Chitipat with a dreadful tackle that warranted a straight red. Suchao confronted the offender by pushing into his chest and uttering something which resulted in Ikaimbi felling Suchao with a punch in the face. Suchao retaliated with a push in the face.
The referee finally responded by issuing a red to Ikaimbi and a yellow to Suchao. Nearly all the players from both teams were surrounding the officials with Ikaimbi refusing to go and the Glass players insisting that Suchao should also be sent off.
By the time some semblance of order had been restored and Ikaimbi had finally left the field, play had been held up for a good five minutes at least. When play restarted the referee blew for time after only a minute or so and the Buriram players and coaching staff were totally bemused and angry that more stoppage time had not been allowed.
To make matters worse Ikaimbi has issued a statement that he admits to a dangerous tackle but that his reaction to Suchao stemmed from an alleged serious racial remark made by the Buriram skipper. It has be stressed that it is an ALLEGED remark and the player concerned had been involved in several unpleasant incidents during the game.
Back to the football, such as it was. Buriram were still without Tunez (cracked ribs) and Macena has also picked up an injury which will keep him on the sidelines for a couple of weeks. Diogo returned from his one match ban and Surat was at centre-back with Seul Ki in midfield.
The game started quietly with both sides probing and feeling each other out. Glass gave a few free-kicks away early on but this was to increase as the game went on. The first real chance came in the thirteenth minute.
Diogo won the ball just outside the area on the right and slipped it through for Sittichok to run onto and be left with just the keeper to beat. Unlike his emphatic finish at Korat, he elected to place the ball and side-footed it too close to a grateful keeper.
A number of free-kicks followed before Diogo had the Glass defence retreating in the twenty-fifth minute when he ran at them, only to be brought down from behind twenty-five yards out. Theerathon’s free- kick was not his best, let’s leave it at that.
Three minutes later another free-kick when Sittichok was felled , was headed behind for a corner and Suchao’s excellent cross resulted in a scramble in the area before the ball was eventually cleared.
Buriram were a whisker away from breaking the deadlock in the thirty-third minute when Theerathon thundered a thirty yard shot against the crossbar with the keeper well beaten. Diogo then beat his man superbly down the right but his well-flighted cross was just behind his fellow attackers.
Theerathon and Narabadin were frequently switching flanks to add a bit of variety to the attacks but very few clear openings were being created. Diogo was operating out wide nearly all the time and this continued in the second-half. You really do need your top goalscorer in the danger area as often as possible.
So stalemate at the interval, with Buriram undoubtedly the better side. Buriram started strongly in the second-half and had a good chance to open the scoring in the forty-ninth minute. The Glass defence gave the ball away and when the ball reached Theerathon he thumped the ball high over the bar once again.
A minute later Theerathon and Narabadin combined well for the latter to send over a superb cross which Diogo went to meet but a push in the back saw him fall to the ground and the keeper gathered.
Diogo does go to ground too easily and it is an annoying side of his game. But he was certainly pushed and the referee waved play on as he did most times when Diogo was involved.
Theerathon then sent Diogo away down the right and he got to the byline but the cross was disappointing. Seul Ki then flicked on a right-wing Theerathon corner and it caused a moment of panic in the Glass defence before they cleared their lines.
In the fifty-seventh minute a superb, raking pass by Seul Ki sent Narabadin racing to the left byline but the cross was cleared. Two minutes later Sittichok was heavily brought down twenty-five yards out. Suchao’s shot was parried by the keeper and the ball was scrambled away.
The keeper came to the visitors’ rescue again in the sixty-second minute when Diogo did well out on the left and picked out Seul Ki in the box. The Korean chested the ball down before sending a good shot towards the far corner which the keeper turned superbly round the post for a corner.
Six minutes later Theerathon sent in a great free-kick from the right which required the merest of touches to turn it in but none was forthcoming. Buriram came back again in the seventy-first minute when good play down the right saw the ball reach Anawin.
The midfielder sent over a great cross which saw Diogo rise superbly to send a powerful downward header goalwards. The Glass keeper was equal to it yet again, diving low to his right to turn the ball round the post. Seul Ki then received a needless yellow card shortly after.
Another quick Buriram break down the left saw Narabadin reach the byline before crossing, only for the keeper to get there just before the onrushing Diogo. Narabadin was then replaced by Prakit, making a welcome return after a lengthy absence due to injury.
After seventy-six minutes, Anawin’s long throw from the right was flicked on and Sittichok sent his shot over the bar. That was the end of Sittichok’s night as he was replaced by Santirad ten minutes from time. Glass had hardly been in Buriram’s half but almost snatched an unlikely winner a minute later.
Siwarak had been a spectator for much of the half but when a well-struck thirty-yard shot was arrowing into the top corner, he flung himself to his left and turned the ball round the post. A truly outstanding save. Diogo then had a shot beaten out by the keeper and from the resulting corner, Theerathon’s cross almost crept in at the near post.
That was just about it until the farcical finale. Two points dropped, certainly. There was only one side who deserved to win that game. Buriram missed Macena badly and Diogo spent far too much time out wide. However, they had their chances and they came up against a keeper on top of his game.
Also there can be no excuse for a side adopting stop-at-all-costs tactics like Bangkok Glass did. By making sure that players already on yellows were not the ones to execute bad tackles and substituting ones that were, they were able to disrupt Buriram without going down to ten men. Until the end that is.
Next up is Saraburi (A) on Saturday July 18th, 18.00