A curling free-kick from captain Prak Mony Odom just past the hour mark delivered the only goal of the match as the visitors from Svay Rieng Preah Khan Reach defeated Phnom Penh Crown in the Metfone C-League top-of-the-table clash at the RSN Stadium on Saturday evening.

The victory sent the unbeaten Svay Rieng side clear of the field to 13 points from five matches, this being their fourth win on the spin following their 2-2 draw against Boeung Ket at the start of the campaign.

Crown, who went into this game as the joint leaders, suffered their first loss and remain on 10 points having won three and drawn one.

Svay Rieng did the early running though it was Crown defender Chhom Pisa who came closer than any to scoring even as Shane Booysen kept the pressure on the visitors with some incisive moves.

It wasn’t until the hour mark that the game took a decisive turn when set-piece expert Mony Odom fired a free-kick from the left that flew over the defensive wall and well out of Crown goalkeeper Keo Soksela’s reach.

Fresh from their first win in the AFC Cup group stage over Myanmar’s Magwe FC last Tuesday Boeung Ket had to work much harder than they would have liked against Asia Euro United before Tomoki Muramutsu broke through in the second half to ensure a 2-1 win for the defending champions. Maycon scored the first goal for Boeung Ket but AEU levelled the scores before the breather.

In a fighting finish two lower-rung teams, CMAC United and Kirivong Sok Sen Chey, played out a 3-3 draw.