At a capacity Smart RSN stadium champions Phnom Penh Crown narrowly beat Boeung Ket 2-1, with both teams showing their intent for the upcoming season.
To read about the opening day click here.
First half – Phnom Penh Crown 1 Boeung Ket 1
With over 5.000 fans, as well as the notorious ultras cheering them on Phnom Penh Crown kicked off their season. Yet it was to be the visitors who dominated for the first half-hour. This was indeed to be a natch of two halves, with the first half belonging to Serbian striker Stefan Golubović.
He proved to be an absolute menace to the Crown defense, scoring a diving header in the 13th minute, and then continuing to press for a second. Within the first 30 minutes he could have had a hat-trick, but was also equally as lucky to still be on the pitch after some questionable tackles. Expect goals and a lot of physicality from him this season.
Slightly against the run of play Crown were awarded a penalty in the 35th minute, which was beautifully put away by number 6 Ogawa, putting both teams level going into the break.
Second-half – Phnom Penh Crown 2 Boeung Ket 1
In case we were wondering where the Phnom Penh Crown of old had gone we were literally reminded 55 seconds into the second half. Right from kick-off a beautiful cross was flown onto the head of Shintaro who sank the ball into the net right in front of the Phnom Penh Crown ultras.
After this the pace of the game slowed somewhat, with Boeung Ket rarely looking to get back into the game. That is not to say it was not without excitement and drama, with Cambodian international winger Lim Pisoth going close to scoring in the 55th minute after hitting his own player and then managing to scrape it just over the bar.
Chances after this though were scarce, with the main thing to report being a slew of yellow cards for sides in what was a fairly physical and hard fought game.
Phnom Penh Crown 2 – Boeung Ket 1 – What did we learn?
Boeung Ket might not have been bold and brash during the window, but going on this performance they are not to be underestimated. Stefan Golubović is the star man and keeping him fit and not suspended will be paramount if they are to do well this season. Will they challenge for the title though? Probably not.
And as for Crown? They typically start slow and finish strong, with this being a perfect example of that. Yet though they looked good, they were also far from amazing.
Next weeks match away at title challengers PKR Svay Rieng will not only be the standout fixture, but will tell us a lot about both teams chances this season.
This article is adapted from BPVE, (https://bpve.com/) reported and edited from the great team – Cambodia Sports Review. (https://www.cambodiasportsreview.com/)
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