Buriram: Thai Premier League side Buriram United were eliminated from the 2015 AFC Champions League despite a hat-trick from Brazilian striker Diogo helping them to a 5-0 rout over already eliminated Guangzhou R&F of China after Japan’s Gamba Osaka secured the win they needed over Seongnam FC of Korea Republic in Wednesday’s other Group F encounter.
After an impressive start to their group campaign yielded seven points from three games, Alexandre Gama’s team went into the crucial tie at Buriram Stadium on the back of consecutive 2-1 defeats and knowing that they would only advance to the next phase if they bettered the result of the J.League side, who were hosting already qualified Seongnam in Osaka.
A first-half brace from Diogo and a headed goal by Venezuelan defender Andres Tunez settled the home side’s nerves, though, before the Brazilian completed his hat-trick early in the second half and his fellow countryman Gilberto Macena added another soon after.
But with Gamba coming from a goal down to claim a 2-1 victory over Seongnam in the final 10 minutes and progress as Group F winners, the home players were left despondent on the pitch as the final whistle blew as they exited the continental competition at the group stage for the second successive season.
The hosts started brightly but it was Guangzhou who almost opened the scoring after five minutes when captain Lu Lin’s dipping curler from the left corner of the penalty box struck the woodwork.
But the Thai side went back on the ascendency and took the lead in the 11th minute when their Brazilian frontline linked up superbly, with Gilberto Macena’s perfectly weighted cross from the left finding Diogo just outside the six yard box, and he made no mistake in side-footing into the back of the net at the first attempt for his second goal of the group stage.
And Buriram doubled their advantage in the 35th minute when Tunez headed home a corner from the right by captain Suchao Nutnum from six yards out.
The home side then all but wrapped things up three minutes later after defender Jin Yangyang blocked well from Deeprom Prakit inside the box but unfortunately for him the ball broke to Diogo, who made no mistake in drilling home from 14 yards to double his tally for the evening.
The Thais’ dominance continued after the restart and Diogo completed his hat-trick 10 minutes into the second half after he shifted the ball to the left of Jin before driving it under keeper Zhang Shichang from 12 yards.
Then on the hour Gilberto outpaced Jin down the right as he chased onto a throughball before seeing his effort from inside the box deflecting off the unfortunate defender as he tried to recover and into the back of the net for his third goal of the group campaign.
Buriram then took their foot off the peddle in the final 30 minutes with the victory already secured, but an 82nd minute goal in Osaka helped Gamba to a 2-1 victory over Seongnam and in turn eliminated the Thai side.
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