Buriram United buoyant after bouncing out Bunyodkor

Beijing Guoan's Frederic Kanoute is sent off by Iranian referee Torki Mohsen during the match against FC Seoul.

Thai FA Cup winners Buriram United are revelling in their success after clinching a quarter-final spot in the AFC Champions League for the first time by holding Uzbekistan heavyweights Bunyodkor to a goalless draw in Tuesday's second leg for a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Having defied the odds by fighting their way out of a tough group containing South Korea's FC Seoul, J-League side Vegalta Sendai and Chinese outfit Jiangsu Sianty, the northeast club, who are making only their second appearance in the competition, confounded the pundits again against seasoned campaigners Bunyodkor.

Many wrote off Buriram's chances ahead of their last-16 tie against the Uzbek side, who topped their group with an unbeaten record to secure qualification for the sixth consecutive year, during which they twice reached the semi-finals.

Buriram, the first Thai club to make it through to the knockout stage since BEC Tero Sasana reached the final a decade ago, tore up the form book with a smash-and-grab 2-1 victory in the first leg at home last week.

Despite Buriram gaining an upper hand over Uzbekistan's most successful club, few betted against Bunyodkor overturning the first-leg deficit in front of a raucous crowd at their intimidating ground in Tashkent.

With the hosts needing only a 1-0 win to qualify on away goals, Buriram players held their nerve in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the Bunyodkor Stadium. Their defending, orchestrated by Spanish central defender Osmar Ibanez, was well-disciplined, though they got a reprieve when the referee missed a clear handball in the first half.

In fact, the Thai side should have killed off the tie in the closing stages when substitute Carmelo Gonzalez found himself in acres of space inside the area only for the home keeper to block his angled effort from barely six yards out.

Nevertheless, their second clean sheet of a campaign that began in February put Buriram's name into the quarter-final draw, to be made on June 20. "A goalless draw was enough for us to continue in the competition. We had some chances to score, but we didn't take them. But I am pleased with the way we defended," said Buriram coach Scott Cooper, who replaced Atthaphol Puspakom at the end of the group stage.

"Bunyodkor are a good team and they have good players. I am not sure why they were unable to win at home in the AFC Champions League. Sometimes you only need one shot to score, [but] sometimes 20 shots are not enough."

Bunyodkor coach Mirdjajal Kasimove was left baffled by the fact that his side's exit came after they had to settle for a fourth consecutive draw at home. "It's a shame we couldn't win the game," Kasimov told the AFC website.

"We had our chances to win but Buriram played well defensively. We also missed many chances, but we are the only ones to blame for the result. The players tried but we were not able to create enough clear shots."

Seoul in quarter-finals

Meanwhile, FC Seoul beat nine-man Beijing Guoan 3-1. The incident-packed second leg in Seoul witnessed a penalty miss, three goals and three red cards in the last half-hour.

Seoul got off to a disastrous start when a defensive mix-up released Beijing's Freddie Kanoute in the box. The former West Ham, Spurs and Sevilla striker coolly finished to put the visitors 1-0 up after eight minutes.

And with 11 minutes remaining Seoul were given a helping hand by Kanoute, who earned his second yellow card and an early bath for firing the ball into the net after the whistle had blown for offside.

Seoul also went down to 10 men when Adilson was sent off for a challenge on Lang Zheng, before Beijing's penalty-conceder Zhang saw red.

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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/05/23/buriram-united-buoyant-after-bouncing-out-bunyodkor/