Suphanat Mueanta's first-half strike gave defending champions Buriram United a narrow 1-0 win in the first leg of the Asean Club Championship Shopee Cup against Selangor FC at MBPJ Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Thailand international headed home in the 25th minute to give Mark Jackson's side a slender advantage before the two teams face off again at Buriram Stadium next Wednesday.
Suphanat started for the Thai League 1 champions as the tournament's joint-top scorer, Guilherme Bissoli, was suspended following his sending-off last week while Robert Zulj replaced Goran Causic.
Suphanat almost unlocked the Selangor defence in the sixth minute but the winger slid his shot across the face of goal. He made no mistake in the 25th minute, however. The 23-year-old reacted quickest to meet Theerathon Bunmathan's pass towards the near post and steered his header beyond Sikh Izhan Nazrel.
Six minutes later, Selangor thought they had equalised when Neil Etheridge palmed a free-kick from Alvin Fortes into the air before Mohammad Abualnadi slammed the ball into the back of the net. The Jordanian, however, was judged to be offside.
Chrigor Moraes drove in a low cross towards Fortes but the former Cape Verde international shot over the bar with six minutes remaining in the first half.
Sikh Izhan then denied Suphanat a second in the dying seconds of the half, keeping out a low shot after the winger had been played in behind the defence by Supachai Chaided.
Supachai was inches from doubling Buriram's lead soon after the break while Hugo Boumous thought he had equalised in the 67th minute, only for his effort to come back off the post.
Theerathon thumped a rising effort inches over and wide of the top corner while a last-ditch tackle by Harith Haiqal denied substitute Phitiwat Sookjitthammakul from doubling Buriram's lead.
"We are obviously pleased with the victory away from home," said Buriram coach Jackson. "With the schedule we have had recently, we always knew this was going to be a really tough game because Selangor are a good team, but also because of the physical demands we have gone through during this period of the season.
"I was really pleased with how the lads performed, particularly in the second half. They really dug in, gave everything, emptied the tank and I am so proud of how they finished the game."
Selangor coach Kim Pan-Gon vowed to take the fight to Buri Ram next week.
"Yes, we are very disappointed because we could not fully use our home advantage," said Kim.
"However, we still have another 90-minute away game. It will be very tough, but we must come back strongly, stand firm and make all Selangor fans and the Malaysian people proud. We will try our best to recover well and prepare well for the next match."
