Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC striker Marcus Haber (in blue) challenges Phnom Penh Crown players in the top flight football match on December 23. CPL
Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC were able to remain level-headed and maintain their position at the top of the Cambodian Premier League (CPL) in a seven-goal thriller over Visakha FC, to start round two of the competition with a heart in mouth victory.
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Angkor Tiger FC also won a meaningful three points, but the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces club and Boeung Ket FC were unable to score at all, in a nil-all draw which disappointed fans.
Svay Rieng’s 4-3 win over Visakha, played at the Svay Rieng Provincial Stadium on December 23, did not live up to the expectations of the club’s Spanish manager Pep Munoz.
He believed that his players failed to capitalise on a number of scoring opportunities, and should have claimed a comfortable win.
“We can divide this game into two parts. First, we have to look at our own players. We should have taken control of the match from the beginning, as we had a lot of chances to pass the ball to each other in the zones that we wanted, and we managed possession better than our counterparts. This was important, and if we made the most of our chances, we should have established an even greater lead,” he said.
For the second factor, Munoz conceded that Visakha are a big team and played well, and looked like a team that was not prepared to give up. He noted that the in the second half, both teams fought to the end of the game, in an attempt to secure points before the CPL takes a short break to allow the Cambodian international players to train for a friendly with Qatar on New Year’s Eve.
“There were some aspects of the game that we could not control. We saw some empty space too late, and our players wanted to play a very fast game. In the end, our guys – especially the younger players – did what was needed to help the team take the victory. I wish the international players all the best in the important upcoming game,” he said.
Hosts Svay Rieng looked dominant in the first half, with Canadian wunderkind striker Marcus Haber scoring three goals. He scored in the eighth minute and again in the twelfth, when he was awarded a penalty kick. His hat trick came in the twenty second, when he scored a beautiful header from a well weighted kick from centre forward Prak Mony Udom.
The team created many other golden opportunities, but were unable to build on their 3-0 lead, with Visakha fighting their way back into the match via a goal by East Timorese striker Barreto De Lima Mouzinho in the thirty eighth minute. His fellow striker Sin Kakada found the back of the net from a free kick in the forty fourth to see the scores at 3-2 as the teams headed for the sheds.
Defender Choun Chanchav collides with Un Sotherith, injuring his right ankle on December 24. ISI
Late in the second half, with both teams probing for a change to equalise or settle the result, it was Svay Rieng who cracked first in the seventy third minute, as Sar Ratana dragged the ball past two defenders to score the first goal of the second half and see his team draw level with the hosts.
The respectable draw was not to be however, with the hearts of Visakha fans broken in the fifth minute of injury time.
Svay Rieng’s Brazilian striker Iago Bento Fernandez – who was introduced in the sixty fifth minute – produced an incredible left-footed shot to put the hosts up a goal, with the thrilling match ending 4-3 shortly after.
The three points from the victory see Svay Rieng maintain their position at the top of the CPL table, four points clear of Phnom Penh Crown. Visakha remain in third, with 26 points.
Second-placed Phnom Penh Crown’s December 24 win over ISI Dangkor Senchey FC was not without incident, with Cambodian international defender Choun Chanchav forced to leave the field as his team took the 2-0 victory.
The victory came via a header from Japanese striker Shimizu Shintaro and a goal from Colombian forward Rafel Andres Nieto Randon, both in the second half.
At the beginning of the half, Chanchav landed poorly after jumping for the ball, and was rushed from the field with a serious ankle injury.
Phnom Penh Crown issued a statement the following day.
“The club thanks all of the fans who are concerned and want to support Choun Chanchav, who suffered an injury last night. He has successfully undergone an operation,” it said.
His injury means he is in doubt for a series of upcoming international matches.
It is expected that he will spend several months in rehabilitation and could miss the remaining CPL games.
He is also certain to miss the final international friendly of the year, when the national team meet Qatar in Doha on December 31, and is likely to be unavailable for a February AFC Cup match, when Crown face off against Central Coast Mariners in Australia.
