Mixed Evening for Thai Clubs in ACL

Buriram United 0-0 FC Seoul

Buriram grabbed a satisfactory point with a 0-0 draw against the current K-League champions FC Seoul.

The Korean side started on the front foot and forced the first chance of the game. Kwang Min and Molina linked up nicely before they teed up Dejan Damjanovic whose shot flew just over the bar.

Buriram were certainly trying to attack FC Seoul, but it was the Koreans who had the next chance. Escudero was allowed to skip through the Buriram defence and Siwaruk had to get down sharply at his near post to block his low angled shot.

As the half hour approached, Buriram were fortunate that the ball fell to Molina's wrong foot as the Colombian prodded wide from 12 yards out.

Buriram forced a series of corners as they pace of the half gradually slowed down. Carmelo Gonzalez got in behind the FC Seoul back line, but just as he was about to pull the trigger, Kim Ju Young got a blocking challenge in.

The best chance of the opening period came in stoppage time after Molina cut back a free kick to Choi Hyun Tae, and his low drive skimmed off the post after taking a slight nick off a Buriram defender.

Both teams freshened then things up at the interval. FC Seoul appeared to be in the ascendancy, yet it was Buriram who came closer to scoring in the third quarter. Theerathorn fizzed a right foot shot over the bar while Prathum was inches away from connecting with a great free kick delivery from Jirawat.

With the clock ticking down, the pair seemed content to stick with the point they had. However, Prathum had a couple of sticky moments in injury time. The first was a driven cross which bounced off his thigh past the post, and the second was a hack on the edge of the box which could have been given as a penalty by the Singaporean referee.

It finished 0-0 and overall it was a fair score line. Buriram fought well but lacked the final ball into the opposition box.

Man of the Match: Adilson dos Santos - composed performance from the veteran

Urawa Red Diamonds 4-1 Muangthong United

Muangthong United will want to forget their first venture in ACL territory as they lost 4-1 in Japan.
Within 8 minutes, the TPL champs were a goal down when Kashiwagi struck the ball into the ground from a corner which fortunately bounced up over Weera into a vacant net.
On 30 minutes it was game over when Piyaphon picked up his second yellow card. In the TPL, he'd probably have got away with these two challenges, but with an Australian official, his naivety saw him correctly dismissed.
It was then just a matter of time until the floodgates opened.
On 65 minutes Sekiguchi whipped a cross into the net before Haraguchi's header from the edge of the box made it 3-0 minutes later.
Muangthong's misery was complete on 78 minutes when Thritti turned the ball into his own net to give Urawa a 4-0 lead.
The Japanese side seemed to switch off when Dagno Siaka nodded in an easy consolation goal from Weerawut's cross in the 90th minute.
On reflection, Muangthong were probably punching above their weight taking on the Japanese powerhouse, but questions must be asked about the coach's negative approach.
With two games now to follow against the mega rich Guangzhou Evergrande, it appears to be game over for Muangthong's Asian adventure.