Preah Khan Svay Rieng FC beat Kirivong Sok Sen Chey in CPL opening match

Preah Khan Svay Rieng FC beat Kiroving Sok Sen Chey 3-1 in their delayed opening match to the season in front of a near full house at the Svay Rieng stadium. As openings games go, it was not bad, but it also left a lot of questions unanswered for both teams. 

To read about the Cambodian Premier League click here. 

First-half: Preah Khan Svay Rieng FC up 3-0

Remember us telling you to watch out for Markus Haber this year? Well, it took just three minutes for him to open the scoring through with a powerfully headed goal. Despite going one down, Takeo-based Kirivong came back fighting and for the next 20 minutes were probably the better side. But after a counter-attack, Svay Rieng doubled their lead when Sareth Krya managed to head the ball in during a goalmouth scramble. 

The game was then seemingly put to bed not five minutes later when “man of the match” Emmanuel Mbarga put the perfect cross onto the tall head of Haber, giving him his second goal of the afternoon. It truly is a testament to the skill of the former English Premier League striker that he managed two goals on what was in essence, a poor day for the forward. 

Second-half: Preah Khan Svay Rieng FC takes it 3-1

After ending the first half looking like they would get battered, Kiriving came out in the second period like a team possessed. Yet despite attack after attack, they couldn’t get the ball in the net. This was partly due to excellent defending from Kirivong, led by club captain and Cambodian international Soeuy Visal, but mostly due to ineptitude in attack, with star player Robert Ghansah proving particularly disappointing. 

Kirivong did manage a consolation goal in the 74th minute through Filipino international midfielder OJ Porteria, but in the end, it was too little too late for the Takeo side. 

What does it mean?

This was a game Svay Rieng expected and needed to win. Yet while they were excellent in the first half, they were extremely poor in the second. They are though tied for top of the table, so in that respects? So far, so good.

To read about the opening day of the season click here. 

For Kirivong it was not all bad, despite the result. Many a pundit, including ourselves, have tipped them for the wooden spoon this season. But judging by this match they are unlikely to be the pushovers many have predicted them to be, providing they manage to fix their attacking issues. 

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