Hun Sen Cup holders Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng were hospitable hosts but merciless on the pitch on Sunday as they dished out a 6-3 defeat to the visiting Phnom Penh Crown at Svay Rieng Stadium.
Svay Rieng’s rout of their Metfone C-League rivals came on the back of a shock loss to Angkor Tiger just before the Khmer New Year break.
Head coach Conor Nestor was happy to see Trinidad and Tobago signing Trevin Ceasar deliver a second-half brace to keep the home side firmly in control despite Crown courageously fighting back.
South Korean Whoo Hyun opened the scoring seven minutes into the game, and by the half-hour mark Hoy Phallin had doubled the lead before Japanese signing Atsushi Shirota pulled one back for Crown.
But Phallin was back to complete a quick double and Nen Sothearoth added one more before half-time to give the Svay Rieng outfit a 4-1 lead going into the break.
Crown showed signs of a comeback with In Sodavid’s 51st minute goal, but then the visitors were exposed to Trevin Ceasar’s goal craft, with the Caribbean import bagging two in a matter of nine minutes to kill off the game.
Mao Piseth’s 77th minute goal for Crown proved to be merely a consolation.
Naga stay joint top
NagaWorld stay level with Boeung Ket at the top of the table after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Asia Euro United, with goals from Sos Suhana, Inui Tatsuro and Kouch Dani, the last one coming in injury time.
The victory lifts Naga to 13 points after five games, level with Boeung Ket, who beat Ministry of National Defense 2-0 the previous evening.
In Sunday’s third game, Angkor Tiger easily had the measure of Electricite du Cambodge, with Japanese Kazuteru Okamoto leading the charge.
His first goal came in the fifth minute, before the still winless EdC equalised through Soun Veasna in the 12th minute.
Tigers went back ahead thanks to Taing Sopheak’s early second half goal and Okamoto went on to score his second late on, four minutes into extra time.
