Buriram beaten as Beetles bite again

Buriram beaten as Beetles bite again

Chiang Rai's Sivakorn Tiatrakul, left, vies with Buriram's Korrakot Wiriyaudomsiri.
Chiang Rai's Sivakorn Tiatrakul, left, vies with Buriram's Korrakot Wiriyaudomsiri.

Defending champions Buriram United's year-long unbeaten run in Thai League 1 ended on Sunday night following a 1-0 defeat at the hands of their bogey team Chiang Rai United.

It was also the first defeat suffered by the league leaders this season in the tournament as they allowed both Chiang Rai and Bangkok United to close the gap at the top.

Bangkok United are now five points behind the Thunder Castle's haul of 26 points from 11 games, while Chiang Rai, who were lifted by a 36th-minute goal by Victor Cardozo last night, are six points adrift.

Buriram's last defeat in the domestic league was recorded in the first week of May last year when they were edged 4-3 at home by Ratchaburi Mitr Phol.

Since then they have lost only twice to a local team, going down to Chiang Rai on both occasions in non-league competitions.

The Beetles first pipped Buriram 1-0 in last year's FA Cup final in October and then beat the northeastern giants again 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out in the Champions Cup after a 2-2 stalemate at time.

Meanwhile hosts Police Tero handed Sukhothai a surprise 2-1 loss at Boonyajinda Stadium last night.

Mongkol Thossakrai put Police Tero in the lead very early in the match but Prat Samakrat equalised for Sukhothai on 30 minutes. Young Myanmar striker Aung Thu scored the winning goal for the home team a little after the hour mark.

In other matches last night, hosts Suphanburi squandered a 2-1 advantage to draw Ratchaburi 2-2, while Nakhon Ratchasima claimed three points after a 2-0 victory over visiting Pattaya United.

On Saturday night, Port captured three points at their home ground, edging PT Prachuap. Siwakorn Jakkuprasart netted the winner for the hosts in the 33rd minute.

11 and counting

Former Finland striker Mixu Paatelainen became the latest Thai League 1 coach to lose his job this season as the number rose to 11 after just 11 matches.

Paatelainen's tenure as Ubon UMT coach ended after their 1-1 draw with Chainat on Saturday night left them in second bottom spot in the 18-team league.

The other 10 coaches who were either axed or stepped down this season were Drago Mamic (Chainat), Christian Ziege and Rene Desaeyere (Ratchaburi), Totchtawan Sripan (Muang Thong), Joseph Ferre (Bangkok Glass), Scott Cooper (Police Tero), Sasom Pobprasert (Air Force), Goran Barjaktarevic (Chonburi), and Wiriya Phaophan and Chamnan Phaekhuntod (both Navy).

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