Suphanburi win pins Kirins to bottom

Suphanburi win pins Kirins to bottom

Suphanburi ended their lengthy stay in the Thai League 1 relegation zone with a rallying 3-1 victory over Nakhon Ratchasima which condemned former champions SCG Muang Thong United to the bottom place.

Chonburi's Lukian Almeida celebrates his goal.

Suphanburi, under former Muang Thong league-winning coach Totchtawan Sripan, were in the last place in the league before second-half goals from Mark Hartmann, Cleiton Silva and Jonatan Reis gave them the win at home.

Doumbia Henri's strike for Nakhon Ratchasima on 17 minutes was in vain as the hosts ended a three-game losing streak.

It followed a stunning 2-1 defeat suffered by Muang Thong at the hands of arch-foes Port on Saturday night with Kirins new coach Yoon Jong-Hwan making a losing debut in the Thai top flight.

Port, defensively better organised, got going in the second half with their first goal coming from Bordin Phala's 25-yard drive in the 50th minute.

Sumanya Purisay's fine cross set up Nitipong Selanont to bury the ball into the net and double the lead for Port a few minutes later.

Substitute Weerawut Kayem lunged on to a bisecting pass from Heberty Fernandes to pull one back for the Kirins but it failed to spark a comeback by the home team.

"I was appointed only five days before the match and this was my first game with the team," said Yoon, a former J-League Cup-winning coach.

"I apologise to the fans for not being able to get a good result, but a lot of things need to be done.

"We were good in the first half but lost concentration in the second.

"We must come back strong and try to do our best in the next game. From now, we have to start winning some matches and I am sure we can do it."

Port coach Jadet Meelarp said: "We played it safe in the beginning to study Muang Thong's style and tactics under their new coach. We went on the attack after the break and got two goals."

PT Prachuap also rallied to tie visiting Sukhothai 1-1 last night to join Buriram United and Chaing Rai United in second place with 13 points apiece. Port lead the table with 17 points.

Matheus Alves levelled the score for Prachuap shortly before time after John Baggio had put Sukhothai in front in the 51st.

Lukian Almeida went on a scoring spree last night, grabbing five in less than an hour to give resurgent Chonburi a 7-5 home victory over Chiangmai.

It was a stellar one-man show by the Brazilian striker before Myanmar's Si Thu Aung and Sithichoke Paso netted the Sharks' sixth an seventh goals during the last 10 minutes.

Mustafa Azadzoy had two and Ekanit Panya, Wanmai Setthanan and Eliandro Santos one each as Chiangmai contributed five to the 12-goal thriller.

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