Buriram added the Mekong Club Championship to their ever-growing collection of trophies in 2015 They defeated Boeung Ket Angkor, the Cambodian champions at the National Stadium in Bangkok. Teams from Cambodia, Myanmar,Laos and Vietnam played-off for the right to meet the Thai League Cup winners.
Buriram fielded a more or less full strength side and dominated possession from start to finish. However, they tended to over-elaborate, often trying to walk the ball into the net ,resulting in few clear-cut chances. Diogo tried a long shot in the twelfth minute but it flew way over the top.
A minute later a right-wing cross just eluded Diogo and Seul-Ki collected the ball but his attempted chip was wide. Play was rather scrappy , though Macena did fire over in the twenty-second minute. Buriram finally got a shot on target on the half-hour mark but Diogo’s low shot was easily saved by the keeper.
A minute later Macena got to the byline down the right but his cross was blocked. The Brazilian thought he had won a penalty in the thirty-fourth minute when he was brought down in the area but the referee was not interested. The defender did play the ball but the new interpretaion of the law suggests it was a penalty.
Buriram produced some neat interplay in the thirty-seventh minute but once again attempted one pass too many. The same happened three minutes later but Buriram failed to get a shot in on goal. A disappointing half with Buriram almost playing it like a practice match.
Buriram brought on Anawin for the disappointing Narubadin but the game continued in the same vein. Buriram were having plenty of possession without troubling the goalkeeper. Koravit did bring him into action following a foul on Diogo but it resulted in a routine save.
After fifty-six minutes Buriram brought on Theerathon for Chitipat and at least the corners began to pose a threat. Shortly after Jakkaphan was replaced by Chaowat and almost immediatel Buriram broke the deadlock. Diogo was sent through on goal down the left channel and as he raced into the box he was sent crashing to the ground and the referee had no option but to award a penalty.
Up stepped Tunez to send a perfect low shot into the left-hand corner to put Buriram one up. Theerathon then had a shot blocked and Chaowat had a shot from outside the area saved. Buriram made their final substitution a minute from time, bringing on Sittichok for Suchao.
There was just time for Anawin to be shown a yellow card for a tug on a shirt before the referee blew the final whistle. It had been a disappointing game with the Cambodians out of their depth. It was too easy for Buriram who were no doubt thinking about next week’s FA Cup final against you know who !
