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BEC Tero Sasana ended their AFC Champions League campaign yesterday the
same way they began: disastrously. China's Shandong Luneng handed them a 4-0
drubbing in their last Group F match at Dhupataemeeya Stadium and left them
licking their wounds.
Despite fielding a largely se
cond-string side, Group F winners Shandong,
winners of the China FA Cup last year, showed their class and ran the two-time
Thai League champions ragged throughout the game before ending their mission in
the preliminary round with a perfect record.
The latest setback summed up BEC Tero Sasana's woeful season in which they
ended up at the bottom of Asia's elite club competition, with just a point from
six games, and a lowly sixth in the recently concluded Thai League.
BEC Tero Sasana's coach Payong Kunnen made some changes from the side that
earned its first points with a 2-2 draw against PSM Makassar of Indonesia
earlier this month, with former Crystal Palace youth team player Teeratep
Winothai, widely known as "Leesaw", coming in on the left flank.
Having already wrapped up the group and booked their place in the last
eight, Shandong's Serbo-Montenegrin coach Ljubisa Tumbakovic took the
opportunity to rest his key players, including China international striker Zheng
Zhi, who tops the AFC Champions League scoring chart with five goals, for their
domestic league match this weekend.
The visitors got off to a flying start. Three minutes into the game
Romanian striker Ionel Danciulescu put the Chinese in front, firing home a
rebound after his partner Han Peng had his close-range shot blocked by BEC Tero
Sasana goalie Pansa Meesadtham.
There was no let up for the home side as Shandong attacked in waves and
Danciulescu was at the heart of their best moves.
In the 18th minute, the agile former Dinamo Bucharest player drew the first
yellow card of the game when he jinked his way past Paisal Pona and the defender
tugged his shirt.
The home side had to wait for 20 minutes to create their first chance of
the game when Teeratep collected the ball from the left and cut inside but was
unfortunate to see his curling low shot parried away by goalkeeper Zong Lei.
Just as the Thai side seemed to settle down, the visitors extended their
advantage in the 23rd minute when they were awarded a free-kick just outside the
box and Liu Zhao dispatched a swerving shot beyond the outstretched hands of
Pansa.
Despite their team going down 0-2, BEC Tero Sasana fans in the almost empty
stadium, one of them armed with a drum, cheered on in an attempt to motivate the
home side. Their efforts failed as the visitors continued to dictate the game.
In the second half, BEC Tero Sasana came out determined. Two minutes after
the restart, Teeratep had another chance on the edge of the box but this time he
sent it harmlessly wide.
The early threat from the home side disappearing, the visitors made it 3-0
four minutes after the hour mark through Danciulescu’s second goal.
The home side had a chance to narrow down the arrears but poor finishing
let them down. And, just before the whistle substitute Lu Zheng completed the
rout with a powerful strike.
Meanwhile, Krung Thai Bank suffered a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Busan
I'Park of South Korea in their Group G encounter.
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