THAILAND: THAI PREMIER LEAGUE ROUND-UP

The TPL finds itself with new leaders, following the latest rounds of fixtures. Muang Thong Utd took advantage of Buriram Utd’s AFC Champions League distraction to force their way to the summit on Wednesday night. The Nonthaburi club registered an impressive 3-1 away win in Chiang Rai during the week and followed it up with a 3-2 home victory against Bangkok Utd four days later. However, the latter scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story, as the Qilins netted twice in added on time, to come from behind and snatch the three points in dramatic fashion.

Earlier the same evening, previous table toppers Buriram Utd had thrashed lowly Samut Songkhram 5-1, with Gonzalez Carmelo helping himself to four of the goals. This haul included a hat trick, scored in the space of fifteen first half minutes. Javier Patino bagged the north easterner’s fifth. Guy Hubert was on target for the hapless visitors.

With nearest challengers Chonburi and Suphanburi only managing two goalless draws – the first against each other – any lingering thoughts that the battle for the title is anything other than a two horse race (again!), were surely laid to raid.

At the bottom, Pattaya Utd bounced back from a disappointing 1-2 home reverse to chalk up a 3-0 win at ToT. But still find themselves in 17th place, thanks to results elsewhere. However, their opponents on Saturday will now be looking over their shoulder, as they themselves are plummeting towards the relegation zone, following seven defeats in a row. Incidentally, the attendance of 560 at this match is the lowest in the TPL this season. Beating the 765 who turned up to watch ToT play BEC Tero a couple of weeks ago.

The two other stand out results from the past four days are Chainat’s 4-2 triumph at BEC Tero and Bangkok Glass winning 3-0 at the Army Stadium. With safety guaranteed, both clubs must surely be looking to kick on and finish as high as they can in the final standings.