Muang Thong suffer third straight setback
With the end of the first half of the season just around the corner, SCG Muang Thong United’s inability to stop the rot has the thrown the Thai League 1 title race wide open again.
The Kirins suffered a third straight loss for only the second time in their history on Saturday night when they were beaten 3-2 by Ubon UMT United at home. The last time they had gone without a point in three games was back in 2011.
Frustrated Muang Thong United coach Totchtawan Sripan said multiple factors contributed to the unforeseen slump in the team’s form.
“Why our players are finding it so difficult to switch tactics is the biggest question that we are facing,” said Totchtawan. “It is obvious that we can’t put to use our game plan for the AFC Champions League in local matches.
“This was a home match so we had to attack, which allowed our opponents to counter-attack and our defenders couldn’t handle it. We tied the score but then let them net two more.
“We tried to turn things around but unfortunately we don’t have a gamechanger on our bench.”
Bajram Nebihi put Ubon UMT ahead in the third minute, but Muang Thong evened the score early in the second half when Theeraton Bunmathan converted a penalty.
The visitors netted two more through Victor Cardozo and Nebihi before Teerasil Dangda got one back for the Kirins in the injury time.
Ubon UMT coach Scott Cooper: “We had a bad result against Nakhon Ratchasima in our last game, so we would have been content with a draw here. It is great that we have picked up three points.”
Also on Saturday night, Navy claimed three points from their home game, edging Ratchaburi FC 1-0, while Nakhon Ratchasima lost 1-0 at home to Chiang Rai United, Pattaya United upset Bangkok Glass 4-2 and Si Sa Ket edged Thai Honda 3-2.