Defending champions Buriram United got off to a winning start under new coach Afshin Ghotbi as they edged Nakhon Ratchasima 1-0 at home in the Thai League yesterday.
Buriram's Ko Seul-Ki, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring against Nakhon Ratchasima.
The victory in the northeastern derby was ensured by South Korean midfielder Ko Seul-Ki, who struck home in the 15th minute.
The Thunder Castle had some opportunities to widen the margin of their victory, but their lack of clinical finishing was exposed once again.
Buriram United also owed a great deal to the hard work put in by their defenders, who did a splendid job in keeping Nakhon Ratchasima at an arm's length throughout the match.
Buriram sacked their Brazilian Alexandre Gama last week and replaced him with Ghotbi of Iran in a desperate attempt to arrest the slump the national football giants had been experiencing since the start of the season.
Meanwhile, the rot has set in again for Pattaya United in the Thai League as promoted club's fairytale rise lost steam with a third straight hammering yesterday, this time a 5-0 rout suffered at the hands of struggling Si Sa Ket.
After some close exchanges, Anton Zemlianukhin produced Si Sa Ket's only first-half goal in the 34th minute.
The floodgates opened when Victor Amaror converted a penalty five minutes into the second half and soon striker Phuwadol Suwannachart made it 3-0 for Si Sa Ket.
Yutthana Ruangsuksud and Norbert Csiki rubbed more salt into the Pattaya United's wounds by adding two more goals to the Si Sa Ket tally towards the end of the match.
Chiang Rai continued their impressive run in this year's league with a 2-1 win over resurgent Navy at home yesterday.
The hosts succeeded in rattling Navy's confidence very early in the match when they struck home through captain Pichitphong Choeichiu and Wellington Bruno. Nattaporn Phanrit pulled one back for Navy in the 53rd minute.
In another match yesterday, Wesley Alex helped Army United salvage a 1-1 draw at Chainat.
The hosts had taken the lead through Josimar Souza in the 39th minute but were denied the victory by Wesley's strike in the 76th.