Thailand brushed aside a spirited challenge by Mayanmar with a comfortable 4-0 victory in the Suzuki Cup semi-final second-leg. Having lost the first- leg 2-0, the visitors showed a far more positive approach and Kawin was forced into two outstanding saves. The woodwork also came to Thailand’s rescue early in the second-half but the reality was that the War Elephants never really got out of second gear.
They took the lead in the thirty-third minute when Theerathon sent over an excellent left-wing cross for Sarawut to send a diving header into the corner of the net.
They increased their lead in the sixty-fifth minute with a Theerathon penalty after Sarawut was felled by a chest-high challenge. The Myanmar protests resulted in their coach being sent to the stands which I find exraordinary considering the height of the challenge.
Chapuis came on in the seventy-fifth minute and with practically his first touch sent Siroch racing clear with a delightful through ball down the right channel. The big striker brushed aside one challenge, stepped inside another before lashing a fierce shot high into the net from a tight angle.
It was his first goal for his country and with finishes like that it certainly won’t be his last ! Thailand then twisted the knife with a delightful fourth goal in the eighty-third minute when Theerathon found Sarawut wide left. He looked up and pulled a lovely low ball back for Chanathip to calmly pass the ball into the corner of the net from just inside the area.
The young Myanmar team gave their all but the gulf in class proved too much for them. Thailand now go on to meet Indonesia in the final after they saw off Vietnam in a remarkable game in Hanoi.
Indonesia took a 2-1 lead in the first-leg leaving Vietnam needing only a 1-0 win to go through on the away goals rule.The home side were in total control of the game but couldn’t find the net through bad luck and poor finishing. As often happens in these games they were made to pay when Indonesia scored following a breakaway.
The goalkeeper and a defender got in a terrible tangle , leaving a simple tap-in to put Indonesia 3-1 up on aggregate. It got worse for the home side when their goalkeeper lashed out with his boot after he had been fouled and the assistant referee’s intervention saw a straight red card being issued.
Vietnam had used up all their substitutes so an outfield player had to go in goal and they were reduced to ten men. Amazingly, this seemed to spur them on and two goals in the last eight minutes, the second in stoppage time, meant the game went into extra-time.
Vietnam continued to press but once again they were caught on the break and the stand-in keeper hauled an Indonesian forward down as he was about to shoot. The spot-kick was duly awarded and the keeper was lucky to escape with a yellow card.
The penalty was dispatched and it was deja-vu shortly after with an almost identical situation. Again the penalty was awarded and the keeper was looking at a second yellow. Incredibly, Vietnam managed to persuade the referee to consult his assistant who indicated that it was not a penalty !
Amazing stuff but Indonesia managed to hang on to take their place in the final against Thailand. The first-leg is in Indonesia on Wednesday December 14th with the second-leg in Bangkok on Saturday December 17th. At the time of writing kick-off times had not been announced.
The Buriram Times apologise for the lateness of this report but problems with the server meant we could not access the site.