Weekend Review 7-8 July

TPL
Thai Port 0-0 Osotspa Saraburi
Chainat 1-1 Esan Utd
Pattaya Utd 1-1 Police
TTM 0-1 Chonburi
Chiang Rai Utd 1-1 Muangthong
BEC Tero 0-0 Army
Samut Songkhram 4-4 Wuachon Utd
TOT 0-1 Buriram Utd
Bangkok Glass 5-2 BBCU

Saturday's two games in the north proved pivotal as Chonburi now have their title destiny in their own hands. The Sharks are only five points behind Muangthong having played one game less. Chonburi left it very late at TTM with the only goal of the game coming in the 97th minute via a Diakite free kick. In Chiang Rai, a packed construction site witnessed Muangthong fightback to earn a point through a Gjurovski goal.

It was a slumbering Saturday elsewhere as the four other matches finished as draws. There was very little to report at the PAT and the Thephasadin as both games bored the pants off the watching spectators, while Pattaya and Chainat claimed home points with 1-1 draws against Police and Esan Utd respectively.

Whatever Saturday lacked in entertainment, Sunday certainly made up for it with an abundance of goals.  Samut Songkhram took the lead on four occaisions against Wuachon only to be pegged back each time with the last equalizer coming in the 91st minute. Be advised though that the highlight clip of this game isn't one for the purists of defensive football. After a sluggish start to their game, Bangkok Glass eventually overwhelmed BBCU 5-2 at the Leo Stadium. The Big Bang have played with a quiet whimper lately with only one win coming since the opening day of the season back in March.
Meanwhile, Buriram United's 1-0 success at TOT keeps them hanging on to the coat tails of Muangthong and Chonburi at the top.


Division 1
Pattalung 2-2 JW Rangsit
Ratchaburi 5-3 PTT Rayong
FC Phuket 0-1 Krabi
Suphanburi 3-0 BangkokUtd
Sriracha 3-1 Korat
Raj Pracha 1-1 Saraburi
Chantaburi 0-4 Siam Navy
Bangkok FC 3-0 Khon Kaen

The match between Ratchaburi and PTT Rayong was an eight goal belter with the Dragons edging out PTT 5-3 to remain top. Krabi won their fourth successive game beating Phuket 1-0. In that four game winning sequence, the Energy have kept a quartet of clean sheets.

Suphanburi's 3-0 win over Bangkok United helped them leap over their beaten opponents into third place. Pipat notched a brace for Suphanburi to move joint top of the Division 1 goalscorers chart. He is level on 9 goals with Romain Gasmi who was incidentally sent off in the 55th minute of this game.

A Douglas Cobo free kick saw Sriracha on their way to a 3-1 victory as they inflicted Korat's new coach with his first defeat. While on the subject of recently appointed coaches, the new era at Bangkok FC under Zico began with a comfortable 3-0 home victory over Khon Kaen.

Pattalung's squad of 11 produced a superb comeback to salvage a late point with only 10 men. With JW Rangsit leading 2-1, Pattalung had a player sent off in the 85th minute but they managed to draw level three minutes later to earn a precious point. The other troubled Division 1 side, Chantaburi, weren't as fortunate as they lost 4-0 at home to Siam Navy. It's a sad indication of the club's plight when a 4-0 defeat is seen as a reasonable outcome when compared to other recent results.

Division 2 BKK
Rangsit FC 0-0 R-BEC
Samut Prakarn Utd 3-1 Chamchuri Utd
North Bangkok 1-1 Kasem Bundit
Bangkok Christian 1-1 Luk Esan
Samut Sakhon 1-2 Rayong Utd
Kasetsart 1-0 Thai Honda
Globex 0-2 Nonthaburi
Central Lions 0-4 Assumption Thonburi
Customs Utd 4-1 Krung Thonburi

Up until a couple of weeks ago, Samut Sakhon had been formidable at home. On Saturday they suffered their second home defeat in the space of a fortnight as they lost to Rayong United 2-1. That win moved Rayong Utd above Samut Sakhon and Thai Honda to the summit of the league. The Speed Kings lost 1-0 at Kasetsart as the Emerald Nagas moved into fourth spot.
At the bottom Nonthaburi collected their 7th point from three games following a 2-0 win at Globex while the form team of the moment, Assumption Thonburi, gathered their 10th point out of 12 with a 4-0 romping of Central Lions. Both Nonthaburi and Assumption must be rueing their disastrous starts to the campaign!

Toyota League Cup - Round 2
Korat v Muangthong
Kasetsart v Wuachon
Samut Prakarn Utd v FC Phuket
Lopburi v TTM
Petchaburi v Chonburi
NSRU v Chiang Rai Utd
Songkla v TOT
Customs v Krabi
Pattalung v Bangkok Glass
Pattani v Osotspa
Suphanburi v Samut Songkhram
Khon Kaen v Thai Port
Lamphun Warriors v BEC Tero
Hat Yai v Buriram Utd
Trat v Ratchaburi
Air Force v Pattaya

The ties are set to be played this Wednesday with kick off times varying between 15:30 and 18:30. With 10 regional league clubs still involved, expect to see at least a couple of upsets as Div 1/TPL clubs tumble out of the cup.