Chonburi on cloud nine after commanding opening win
Ho Chi Minh City: Five-goal machine Jirawat Sornwichian helped Chonburi Bluewave secure an emphatic 9-0 victory over Bank of Beirut FC in the AFC Futsal Club Championship Vietnam 2017 Group D opener on Friday.
The Thai side were quick to send a warning of their prowess to their other opponents in Vietnam, establishing early control to create the game’s first chance in the third minute when Suphawut Thueanklang fired a low drive but his effort was matched equally by Lebanon goalkeeper Hussein Hamadani.
The 2013 champions were not to be stopped again, taking the lead four minutes later when Kritsada Wongkaeo outmuscled Bank of Beirut’s Iranian import Behroz Jafari, before releasing Suphawut, who squared the ball for an easy tap-in for Jirawat.
Jirawat continued his rich vein of form - which saw him clinch the top-scorer award in the last edition - with a sublime second, finishing a well-crafted move he began from his own half, exchanging swiftly with Rudimar Venancio before beating Hamadani.
Bank of Beirut were then reduced to four men after captain Ali Tneich received his marching orders for clipping Suphawut’s left heel. The Thai side then made the most of their numerical advantage, adding to their lead with the deadly duo of Jirawat and Suphawut combining well once more for the latter to get his name on the score sheet four minutes from half-time.
Things were about to get worst for the Lebanon side, with Chonburi producing arguably the best move of the match. Beginning in their own half, Jirawat sent a perfectly weighted cross to Suphawut, who released Kitsada on the right flank. The captain then knocked the ball in between two Lebanese defenders for Rudimar to tee-off Suphawut for an easy tap-in.
Chonburi added their fifth in the final minute of the first half when Ahmad Kheir El Dine failed to deal with Rudimar’s low cross, the ball then falling kindly onto Jirawat’s path who unleashed a bursting shot for his hat-trick.
Jirawat added his fourth in a carbon copy of Chonburi’s first goal, Kritsada again showing his strength in the middle, guiding the ball onto the path of Suphawut who freed Jirawat for a looping effort.
Eleven minutes into the second half, it was seventh heaven for Chonburi as Nattawut Srirangpirot reacted to Hamadani’s parry to provide Jetsada Chudech with an easy finish.
Chonburi added their eighth three minutes later, this time Peerapat Kaewwilai with a simple tap-in after some woeful defending by Bank of Beirut. Without giving the Lebanese side a moment of reprieve, Jirawat then capped off his fifth and final of the match with a simple finish from close range.
Bank of Beirut will now be hoping to salvage their hopes when they face Uzbekistan’s FC Almalyk on Sunday while Chonburi will look to inch closer to the quarter-finals against the same Uzbek opponents on Tuesday.
Dejan Dedovic (Bank of Beirut Head Coach)
“Too many things went wrong. The sending-off caused us two or three goals, our defensive errors cost us a few goals, lack of concentration caused more goals, many things. But we need to learn from this experience. We need to keep ourselves motivated for the next match. Obviously, this was not our best but we need to keep learning, keep getting better.”
Rakphol Sainetgnam (Chonburi Bluewave Head Coach)
“We did not expect this result, certainly not by this scoreline, so we are quite surprised. But for all our goals, I am most pleased with our clean sheet and the manner in which we defended. We kept our concentration from the start to end. Now we need to finish the job, and I said before, keeping our focus is most important. The Uzbek team is not easy so we will need to show the same form and performance in the next match.”
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com
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