Muang Thong United missed out on their first win in the AFC Champions League Two as they were held to a 2-2 draw by 10-man Dynamic Herb Cebu in their Group H tie at Rajamangala National Stadium on Wednesday night.
Muang Thong ace Felicio Brown cancelled out Rhino Goutier's first-half opener before the Kirins struck in the 79th minute through Emil Roback's header, only for the Philippine side to reply in stoppage time through Rintaro Hama and force the draw.
The Kirins are third with two points from three games while Cebu are at the bottom with just one point.
The Kirins were left stunned in the 16th minute after conceding a set-piece situation with Ho-A-Tham sending a perfect cross into the path of Goutier, who headed home from close range.
Muang Thong began to assert their dominance but couldn't capitalise on their chances with Denis Busnja and Brown both missing their efforts in the closing stages of the first half.
The Kirins started off the second half strongly and their persistence was rewarded in the 53rd minute when Kakana Khamyok cleverly held up play before supplying Roback, who cut it back for Brown to slot home.
Muang Thong came close to taking the lead in the 68th minute after Brown and Poramet Arjvilai combined well at the centre but the latter's low effort was saved by Gamba Badelic.
Muang Thong finally moved ahead in the 79th minute when Tristan Do curled in a cross for Roback to finish with a powerful header.
Daniel Alexio was sent off in the first minute of injury time but Cebu were not to be denied with John Lucero setting up Hama in the third minute of added time to share the points.
"The scoring is really the nightmare for the team. For the past 2-3 weeks, we trained very hard in scoring every day but today, it is still the same problem. We were not good enough in scoring goals. The opponents had fewer chances but could finish it off," said Muang Thong coach Gino Lettieri.
"I have to apologise to our football fans for not being able to take three points in today's match. I hope that they will still keep on cheering our team continuously in the next game," he added.
Thai League 1 action
Nongbua Pitchaya host high-flying Ratchaburi in a Thai League 1 clash today.
The match will be played at Pitchaya Stadium and will kick off at 7pm.
Nongbua have lost their last three league matches and are 12th in the 16-team standings while Ratchaburi moved up to fourth following victories in their last two games.
War Elephants moving up
Thailand's national team have moved up to No.96 in the latest Fifa world rankings released yesterday.
The team have climbed up four spots from No.100 last month after their victory in the 50th King's Cup tournament.
It is their highest position in 16 years.
The War Elephants will play two warm-up matches next month. They will face Lebanon on Nov 14 and Laos three days later. Both matches will be played at Thammasat Stadium.
Muang Thong ace Felicio Brown cancelled out Rhino Goutier's first-half opener before the Kirins struck in the 79th minute through Emil Roback's header, only for the Philippine side to reply in stoppage time through Rintaro Hama and force the draw.
The Kirins are third with two points from three games while Cebu are at the bottom with just one point.
The Kirins were left stunned in the 16th minute after conceding a set-piece situation with Ho-A-Tham sending a perfect cross into the path of Goutier, who headed home from close range.
Muang Thong began to assert their dominance but couldn't capitalise on their chances with Denis Busnja and Brown both missing their efforts in the closing stages of the first half.
The Kirins started off the second half strongly and their persistence was rewarded in the 53rd minute when Kakana Khamyok cleverly held up play before supplying Roback, who cut it back for Brown to slot home.
Muang Thong came close to taking the lead in the 68th minute after Brown and Poramet Arjvilai combined well at the centre but the latter's low effort was saved by Gamba Badelic.
Muang Thong finally moved ahead in the 79th minute when Tristan Do curled in a cross for Roback to finish with a powerful header.
Daniel Alexio was sent off in the first minute of injury time but Cebu were not to be denied with John Lucero setting up Hama in the third minute of added time to share the points.
"The scoring is really the nightmare for the team. For the past 2-3 weeks, we trained very hard in scoring every day but today, it is still the same problem. We were not good enough in scoring goals. The opponents had fewer chances but could finish it off," said Muang Thong coach Gino Lettieri.
"I have to apologise to our football fans for not being able to take three points in today's match. I hope that they will still keep on cheering our team continuously in the next game," he added.
Thai League 1 action
Nongbua Pitchaya host high-flying Ratchaburi in a Thai League 1 clash today.
The match will be played at Pitchaya Stadium and will kick off at 7pm.
Nongbua have lost their last three league matches and are 12th in the 16-team standings while Ratchaburi moved up to fourth following victories in their last two games.
War Elephants moving up
Thailand's national team have moved up to No.96 in the latest Fifa world rankings released yesterday.
The team have climbed up four spots from No.100 last month after their victory in the 50th King's Cup tournament.
It is their highest position in 16 years.
The War Elephants will play two warm-up matches next month. They will face Lebanon on Nov 14 and Laos three days later. Both matches will be played at Thammasat Stadium.
