TPL
Chonburi 2-2 Khon Kaen Utd
Chonburi Stadium
Attendance: 4,018
Sunday 4th March, 2023
Match Report
by Isaac Hanson
Well that was interesting. A very back-and-forth affair with plenty of scoring opportunities, in the end it’s two goals apiece and a point each for the two sides.
Ibson Melo opened the scoring in the 21st minute with a perfectly timed run to get on the end of a clever chipped pass from Lidor Cohen. He controlled the ball with his chest and then calmly slotted the ball past Chanin to score his 3rd goal of the season, all of which came within a 30 minute span going back to the last 10 minutes of last week’s game against Korat. Initially ruled to be offside, the goal was given after a quick VAR check.
That would be the only goal before halftime, but there were certainly other chances for both sides. Chonburi had more opportunities to score, but each shot was either just wide or if it was on target, the shot lacked power and was straight at the keeper. Khon Kaen went close just before the halftime whistle when Cohen again sent a tantalizing ball into the box, but Chanin made a fantastic reflex save to push Apisit’s point blank header just over the bar.
I had thought to myself at halftime that there were more goals to be had in this game, and sure enough, Amadou Ouattara snuck a wayward cross just over the line less than a minute after the resumption of play. VAR took a look to confirm whether or not the ball crossed the line, but from the replays I saw there weren’t any conclusive angles, so it seems the referee just stuck with the initial decision.
For as great of a game that Jirawat had, letting this goal in was a massive blunder. To be honest, I’m still not entirely convinced that the ball did indeed fully cross the line. Jirawat’s body was between the camera and the ball from the only endline camera angle, so we may never truly know.
Whether that goal should have counted or not, I think we got lucky that Yoo Byung-Soo’s goal a few minutes later didn’t stand. Both he and Jirawat went for a 50/50 ball and crashed together (not for the last time), and Yoo got his head onto the ball and it was in the back of the net, but the referee ruled that Yoo’s arm had (maybe) made contact with Jirawat’s head. I felt we were a bit lucky to get away with that one, the contact looked marginal at best.
Not long after that, Chonburi did eventually get their 2nd goal, thanks to impact sub Dennis Murillo. After being subbed on in the 63rd minute, he was able to score only five minutes later after some shoddy Khon Kaen defending.
Khon Kaen was able to equalize almost immediately after a well-worked team goal scored by Alongkorn in the 72nd minute. I must admit, I’ve been critical of him in the past, but he’s made me eat my words with his performances thus far in the 2nd leg. He has thrived since being put into his current role as the more attacking ‘number 6’ of a double pivot in Coach Boss’s 4-2-3-1 formation. I think he was being asked to do a bit too much as a ‘number 10’ under Coach Carlos and struggled at times, but he has put together a really nice run of games lately.
Despite the scoring being done, the action was certainly far from over. Jirawat made a number of great saves to deny Chonburi, including a similar save to the one that Chanin had made in the first half, this time to deny Amadou. Khon Kaen had a golden opportunity after a mistake trying to play out from the back by Chonburi, but their flurry of shots were all either saved by the keeper, blocked by a defender, or off the post.
There were many if’s and’s and but’s to wonder about in this one… What if Amadou’s goal didn’t actually cross the line? What if Yoo’s goal had been given? What if Jakkit didn’t shoot an open tap-in off the post? What if any of the many great saves by both keepers had been placed an inch or two to either side? Ultimately, both teams will likely feel as if they coulda shoulda won the game to take all 3 points, but in the end I feel like a draw was a fair result.
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