Bangkok United’s struggles continued as the recently dethroned league leaders suffered a second consecutive defeat, this time at the hands of Chonburi FC

Sunday’s action was mostly overshadowed by events at the PAT Stadium, where a second floodlight failure in just three weeks forced Port FC’s hotly-anticipated match against Muangthong United to be postponed. However, results on the pitch still had significant ramifications for the Thai League standings.

After their 2-0 home defeat to BG Pathum last weekend, Bangkok United looked eager to register a win from their trip to Chonburi. The Angels arrived at the seaside town four points behind the league leaders, and needed to pick up some new momentum in order to close the gap.

However, they found themselves trailing once again after just six minutes, as a smart interplay between Kritsada Kaman and Worachit Kanitsribampen caught the visitors defense cold, allowing the Thai attacker to square the ball to Dragan Boskovic. The Montenegrin forward made no mistake from the edge of the six-yard box against his former club, giving Chonburi an early lead to defend.

The hosts continued to cause problems for Bangkok’s defense for the remainder of the first half. For a second week running, excellent individual displays were required to keep United in the game as the Sharks looked dangerous on the counter-attack.

The pendulum slowly began to swing over the course of the game as Chonburi receded deeper after the break, but the Angels were unable to overhaul the scoreline. Brenner Marlos thought he had levelled things for Bangkok United when he latched onto Tristan Do’s excellent low cross with a neat finish, but the linesman’s flag denied the Brazilian his first post-lockdown goal. The visitors were ultimately unable to break down Chonburi’s disciplined defensive block, and were forced to return home empty-handed.

Elsewhere, Samut Prakan City looked on course to collect two wins on the bounce for the first time this season, when they raced into a two-goal lead against Nakhon Ratchasima FC. Barros Tardeli won and converted a penalty in the ninth minute, before Teeraphol Yoryoei arrived in the box for a clinical finish in the 25th.

However, the Swatcats – victims of a stellar comeback last weekend – refused to be beaten as Chitchanok Xaysensourinthone halved the deficit nine minutes later, arriving in the box to convert Amadou Ouattara’s cutback. The Ivorian winger was on hand again in the 78th minute, as his low cross took a decisive touch off Samut Prakan defender Tatsuya Sakai and levelled the scoring.

Lastly, Ratchaburi FC dropped two points at home to Prachuap in truly farcical circumstances at the Mitr Phol Stadium. The visitors’ striker Willen Mota scored twice to put Prachuap in the drivers seat and cancel out Ratchaburi’s equalizer. The action really heated up in the 80th minute, as the Killer Wasps were narrowly holding on to their 2-1 lead when Ratchaburi were awarded a penalty. Yannick Boli comfortably converted with a nonchalant lob down the middle after Prachuap keeper Kwanchai Suklom dived the wrong way.

However, that would prove just to be just the beginning of what would turn into a farcical ten-minute saga, as the penalty had to be retaken due to Ratchaburi players encroaching the box before Boli’s strike. Boli lost his footing during the retake, sending his shot sailing high over the bar and seemingly spelling doom for the hosts. However, to the anger and disbelief of the Prachuap players, the referee ordered that the penalty be taken a third time, citing the same reason once again. A whole ten minutes after the initial penalty had been awarded, captain Philip Roller stepped up to convert and ensure the game ended level.

In terms of the overall standings, Matchday Eight concluded with BG Pathum United pushing four points clear of their local rivals in second place, while Trat, Korat and Prachuap collected valuable points at the other end of the table.