Sunday, 13 May 2012

Muangthong United 2 Army United 1 - report



A quick word of apology for the lack of blogging recently. In the last 6-8 weeks I've been on holiday, been job hunting (for teachers, that always involves demonstration-teaching), been offered jobs, told my current employer I'm leaving, had said employer try to cheat me and had a family visit and second holiday all in one.

During that time MTU have shown steady improvement and today's fixture promises to be interesting, Army are one of those "thorn in the side' clubs that rarely threaten a real title challenge themselves but cause MTU, Chonburi (Army beat them recently) and Buriram (FA Cup matches of legend) to slip up.

We start out with Kawin (GK), Nanuat (LB,one of the Thai Port defectors, I think), Panupong(CB), Ri (CB), Bunato (RB,playing out of position), Datsakorn (Capt, MD), Pitchipong (MD), Mario (Super, AM), Adnan (LM), Siaka (DM/AM), Teerasil (ST)

Army have several farang in their ranks including a goalie who appeared to simulate intercourse with the ball at one point in the first half and some guy who goes by several names including "invincible" and "invisible" which makes him sound like a WWE loanee. He certainly lived closer to the second of those epithets today.

In the first half all I can really think is that for Chonburi to have lost to this lot they must have been out on the town and got hammered the night before. Army work hard and look unintimidated but have very little creativity to offer. In our front line Mario is running up and down, left and right, squashing little mushroom creatures and playing superb short balls to Teerasil's feet. That said, real chances are few and far between.

At half time I tell my friend we should bring on Saharat the "Thai Michael Owen" but instead it's Ekapoom that makes an early entrance, when he's not bumping into blades of grass or pretending to be hurt, he's a dangerous player...

Yet in their one real breakaway so far, Army take the lead with a one on one against Kawin that is neatly put to the keeper's left. Before they have a chance to waste time though, we equalise with a Buntao screamer. The game now opens up and looks like a draw before a Teerasil goal is scrambled in. To be honest, nobody in the n-zone really knows what happened with this one. There's just time for Army to lose discipline (no puns here, they'd be too easy) and get a man sent off for kicking Ekapoom.

So three points in the bag and deservedly so, we had more of the ball and looked more dangerous. Man of the Match goes to Super Mario Djovski who really was the heartbeat of the attack in the first half. Every attacking move flowed through him, even when he didn't have the ball he'd make an intelligent move that attracted the Army defenders and opened up a chance for a team mate. I used to think that Mario looked like Dennis Berkamp, now I'm thinking that at this level, he's as dangerous as Berkamp, too.



2 comments:

  1. I think your review is very unbalanced. I am a Muangthong fan, a loyal supporter, but Army really played well yesterday. I would say up to the same rank as Chonburi, Tero, or Buriram.

    We had more possession of the ball yesterday night. That is true, but the ball are mostly in the defensive part of the field.

    I am on the W side of the field. We (the fans) on that side were intimidated how well Army played (especially during the second half)

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  2. What a great game!! Didn't realize Army was such a violent team.

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