Football
Paul Murphy 7y

Muang Thong's Teerasil Dandga nets 100th T1 goal against Nakhon

Muang Thong United striker Teerasil Dangda made it a historic century of Thai League (T1) goals for the champions as they defeated Nakhon Ratchasima 2-0 to earn a record-breaking 15th consecutive T1 victory.

The Thailand international striker sealed the win with an acrobatic effort in the second half to give the Kirins a morale-boosting win ahead of facing Ulsan Hyundai in the AFC Champions League (ACL) on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Chiang Rai United staged a stunning comeback to stay in touch with Muang Thong, while Port FC took the sting out of the Buriram United attack in Bangkok.

Here are five things we saw on T1 Matchday Six.

1. Teerasil's century saves weakened Muang Thong

Head coach Totchtawan Sripan left the likes of Chanathip Songkrasin and Xisco Jimenez on the bench, while former Ulsan midfielder Lee Ho wasn't risked after suffering an injury in the midweek match at Pattaya.

Although the champions had one eye on Tuesday's ACL tie in Korea, they still managed to see off the challenge of the Swat Cats, while celebrating Teerasil's landmark achievement.

Mongkol Tossakrai opened the scoring with a close-range header in the first half before Teerasil made it a night to remember. In the 64th minute, Pitakpong Kulasuwan floated in a cross that looked to be drifting out, but Teerasil stretched his right boot high enough to divert the ball into the net from a narrow angle.

It has taken the club legend 222 games to reach the century. At 28 years old, it may be unrealistic to expect him to make it to 200 goals, but he looks set to remain a key figure for a club that is going places.

2. Buriram denied as Port bounce back

Having been beaten 5-1 at Thai Honda in midweek, few Port FC fans were looking at this fixture with optimism. Buriram United had won 5-1 at Thai Honda a few days earlier before thrashing Nakhon Ratchasima 4-0 last Wednesday.

But the Port Lions are a different proposition in front of their own fans and they proved again that their 12th man could lift them to unexpected heights as they contained Buriram's fearsome attack. Port benefitted from the harsh dismissal of Diogo Luis Santo with 20 minutes remaining, but were good value for the point earned in a 0-0 stalemate.

Skipper David Rochela had another fine match at the heart of the Port defence and was pleased to see the team back on track after the midweek humiliation.

"We showed that if we play together, if we are compact and if we play as a team, we can do amazing things," Rochela told ESPN FC. "Today, they had some chances, but we also had three very clear opportunities, so I think the point is a good result for us.

"We have to keep this mentality because at home we get a lot of points. Now, we have to change the away form. We know that the last away game was a disaster. We left too much open space and they destroyed us on the counter attack. Moving forward, we have to play more like we did tonight, as a compact unit and fighting."

Buriram United's Icelandic defender Solvi Ottesen had a different take on the game and felt his side should have taken all three points.

"I think we should definitely have won that game," Ottesen told ESPN FC. "We created enough clear chances to win. They had some chances as well but, overall, we were the much better team today and unlucky not to win all three points."

Ottesen was impressed by the atmosphere at the PAT Stadium, where the hosts are unbeaten in four games this season.

"They have fantastic fans at this club," said Ottesen. "The fans are very close to the pitch and this is unusual compared to many grounds in Thailand. So, it creates a lot of atmosphere but not as good as in Buriram."

3. Chiang Rai's Brazilians channel the spirit of Barcelona

Second-placed Chiang Rai United looked like they were headed for the first defeat of the season as they trailed Navy FC 2-0 with 13 minutes remaining. Rodrigo Vergilio's double had given the visitors a two-goal advantage at half-time and the hosts were running out of time.

But Everton Saturnino gave Alexandre Gama's side hope when he fired home in the 77th minute after a corner. Rafael Coelho must then have been thinking of Barca's sensational midweek comeback win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

Coelho's first came from a yard out after another scramble following a corner in the 84th minute. Two minutes later, he headed in from a corner to complete the comeback.

The Beetles will be relieved to have kept in touch at the top, while Navy FC have some work to do on defending corners.

4. Bangkok Glass pile misery on neighbours

Last year's T1 runners-up, Bangkok United were beaten just twice in the whole of the 2016 campaign. After six games of the 2017 season, they have already been defeated three times.

The Bangkok Angels put up sterner resistance at the Leo Stadium than they had in the 3-0 capitulation to Chiang Rai in midweek. But Chatree Chimtalay took advantage to Yohan Tavares' slip to strike a late winner to seal a 3-2 home victory for Aurelio Vidmar's improving side.

The one bright spot for Mano Polking's men was the goalscoring return of key striker Jaycee John to the starting lineup. The Bangkok Angels' head coach has much to do during the international break to lift his side's spirits.

5. Change for the worse?

T1 club directors are not known for their patience, but the dismissal of three head coaches less than six games into the season is extreme even by their standards.

Unfortunately, the changes have not had the desired effect. Sisaket, Sukhothai and Super Power Samut Prakan all went into the weekend fixtures without a permanent head coach. All three lost again and now make up the bottom three.

There is now a three-week international break for the clubs to find someone to get the clubs back on track. Whoever comes in face a significant challenge.

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