Match Report: Muangthong United 1 BG Pathum 1

To the last man.
(all photo credits: Kirin Red Area)

Crunch time. The dull, soggy draw at Chonburi last week means that nothing has really changed at the bottom of T1 but with just two games left, the stakes are now astronomical. Kick off is at 7pm today but crowds start queuing at 2pm. One queue is for tickets and the others is for the awesome Kirins Retro shirt, which is back on sale after a clever limited run two weeks ago. The hunt for those bad boys was frantic; within three hours, every size was stripped from the hangers and the servers alike.

A couple of hours and a failed crossbar challenge attempt by my son later, we go to kickoff. We are of course missing Tristan Do today after his yellow card at Chonburi. His recent form makes that a loss for any fixture but today we are up against two players we know very well in Sarach Yonyen, whom I once described right here as "Thailand's Michael Owen" and Chanathip Songkrasin: two players who can
tear up the flanks of any defence in the Kingdom. Tristan is replaced by Strauss. Our midfield and forward lie are business as usual, although Saric starts in place of Tasa, an interesting choice given the opinions of many fans.

As players emerge, both sets of fans stir up a wall of noise. The away end is awash in blue shirts and waving flags. In the ultras stand, a steady drumbeat and open hands clapping in unison accompanies the raising of a massive tifo banner. Fans are still pouring in on every side. This is a good crowd, great turnout and tremendous atmosphere. Up in the press box, Kawin, Hudson and one Robbie Fowler are all looking down on this date with football destiny . Will we give the majority something to cheer today?

The game starts and BG look dangerous. Yoyen is tormenting Strauss and Kempster is being overloaded on the opposite flank. We're doing our best to stay organised and fighting for every last ball. Occasionally we attack through the flanks ourselves but Popp is finally showing some exhaustion after an intense schedule following serious injury. He's still creating, but he's slow. The younger legs of Kakana are our main hope as his weaving, mazy runs deter BG's back line from pushing even further up.

The overload on Kempster forces Kim to move out and support him a couple of times and I think that affected him for the opening goal. BG played yet another diagonal ball to their right back who hits a quick cross to the near post. Kim hesitated—a fatal half-second on the wrong side of Sareepim— and that was all the opening needed for the tap-in. This was not what we wanted: yet another game where we need to fight back. We make a couple of chances, forcing one good save from their keeper, Kempster hitting a cannon against the crossbar and most painfully: a stumble-come-reverse pass from Saric which set sup Kakana with a goal that is at least half open, but the chance was harder than it looked and he blasts it wide.

At half time the consensus is that we are still in the scrap, but a second BG goal would finish us. The noise doesn't let up though, and with BG now defending the Ultras stand, their goalie is meet with a harsh chorus of jeers as he takes up position.

Play resumes, but the problem is that we can't get any kind of control in midfield and we're relying on the wide players. Eventually it
pays off when Strauss slots a short diagonal to Kakana who takes a quick, inch perfect shot under the diving leg of Sandokhze and into the corner. The stadium erupts into joy and relief. It occurra to me that I haven't given Kakana his due this season. This kid has given his all for the entire season and his dribbling and sheer desire have been every bit as crucial to our recent revival as Popp's return and our more organised defence. If I were defender I would dread him running at me. I hope he's on a long, long contract.

BG don't want to settle for a draw and start to take control of the game again. In my podcast chat with Dale today, we explored the psychology of watching a game at the venue compared to  TV, and as a supporter versus watching as a neutral. I mention this now because my take on the next twenty minutes was very different to Dale's. In the hearts and minds of home fans, BG began a period of possession football, waiting for us to over commit and make a mistake. For four agonizing minutes, we chased ghosts. The ball stayed glued to BG boots, and with every pass we didn't intercept, the anxiety in the stands curdled into something sharper. 

It was during this period that the crowd really started to turn on Saric. The big target man had been backtracking and closing down defenders in the first half, but was now reduced to running slowly from side to side in a game where, once again, he had seen very few touches of the ball. I've already discussed why I'm undecided about his level of blame in all this but in a game where everything is on the line, and we literally can't get a touch on the ball right now, the tension was palpable as fans used him as a target for their anxiety. The substitution doesn't come as quickly as I expected but he is eventually replaced by Korawich. It's the loudest cheer I've ever heard for a substitution itself, rather than for the player coming on.

The siege continued for a while as the inevitable tiredness began to sink in. At least, that's how it felt for those on the ground. For Dale at Thai Football Podcast however, BG simply passed the ball around without doing too much with it. Chanataip was replaced - we later found out he took a knock in the first half - and the rest of the game played out. There was one great save by Korracut. one shot that went millimetres wide and an impressive volley on the turn that flew across the net and mercifully out of play before the ref called for full time. The whistle was met with relief.

As is customary for the final game, players came back out to thank supporters and hear the singing of the club anthems before fans came on to the pitch to greet players up close. It's always a good way to keep the strong bond between players and fans, especially with all that we've suffered this year. 

There's a lot to unpack from this one, so let's try to be concise. Firstly, today was an excellent reminder that Muangthong can still be a giant in Thai football. A crowd of 11,400 is impressive by any standard in this country. This, along with the ridiculous frenzy for the fan shirts might just tip the scales in favour of any potential investors waiting in the wings. 

On the other hand, there is the small matter of which tier we'll be playing in next season. The convoluted chaos at the bottom of T1 has continued with Korat defeating Sukothai yesterday. In short, this means that a win next week guarantees safety, a draw would make us dependent on other results and a default would mean certain doom. The club have organised an official away day package for fans and sources suggest there will be a hefty away following, which is great news. On paper, I would say we have a better side than Sukothai but as the old joke goes, football is played on grass, not paper. In our meetings with Port, Chonburi and BG, I think some of the opposition fans became complacent. I somehow doubt Sukothai fans or staff will be making the same mistake. We need to show our quality and our fight just one last time, and to win without an obvious centre forward.

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My son told me to to title this match report "We need to talk about Saric", I won't do that but I will say that If I were Borges, I would remind Saric that if he can make a strong showing against Sukothai, everything else will be forgotten.

Social media was awash with posts from fans on Friday night saying they have been away from the Thunderdome but for whatever reason, they decided to return for this fixture. That we gave them a performance to be proud of and something to cheer makes me hopeful. Hope can be a painful thing sometimes.

Once more unto the Ch̀xng h̄oẁ, dear players. You can do this. Kirins, Chai-yoo.