Game Day Two: Metfone CPL talking points

Week 2 Take-Aways from the Metfone Cambodian Premier League

Two matches into the season and three teams – Boeung Ket Angkor, National Defense and Svay Rieng – have perfect records. Here are some talking points from Round Two of the Metfone Cambodian League.

De-crowned without Booysen

A key pre-season question was how would champions Phnom Penh Crown cope without last season’s joint top goal scorer George Bisan. How Crown would cope with no Bisan, no Booysen and no Keo Sokpeng (the three combined for 74% of the team’s goals last season) was revealed on Friday as Crown dropped two points in a 0-0 draw withNational Police. Booysen limped off in the opening minutes leaving Crown short of attacking spark. Despite dominating possession and creating a number of chances the attack looked relatively toothless and bereft of creativity. George Kelechi worked hard up-front and diminutive left-winger Seut Baraing was threatening but the Police did not steal the point – they hit the woodwork and had a decent shout for a second half penalty. Crown will be hoping Booysen and Sokpeng return as soon as possible.

Gbenga drives Boeung Ket

Whilst Crown dropped two points the team most likely to challenge for the title knocked six past Western Phnom Penh on Saturday. The powerful and driving runs of Samuel Gbenga, who at times looks like the best foreign player in the league, no match for Western’s defenders. The Nigerian even had time to set-up Chan Vathanaka, again a sub, for an easy goal with the latter’s first touch.

Performance of the Round – Lee Jong ho

A hattrick for Svay Rieng’s 30 year old South Korean striker, a product of Paris Saint Germain’s youth academy, seals the performance of the round. His second a great long-range bullet, the goal of the round, his third a skilful run and finish inside the penalty area. The combination with Rwandan international Kipson Atuheire, who jointly leads the scoring charts with four in two games, could make the Svay Rieng attack formidable.

‘Ronaldo’ does it again

Naga World may have had more chances than the Army but were defeated by a towering missile-like header at the far post by the North Korean Choe Myong-ho for the ‘Asian Ronaldo's’ second goal in as many games for the military. Two wins from two and the Army will go into their next match, Sunday at the Western Stadium, joint top of the table.

Match of Week 3

Naga World vs Phnom Penh Crown, Saturday 5^th March 18h00, Olympic Stadium

The “Casino Derby” with added spice and a replay of last seasons Championship Playoff Final. Naga World appeared to have built a decent squad for the 2016 season; some talented foreign players, including Cameronian striker Privat Mbarga, combined with some experienced Cambodian national team talent not least those sacked by Phnom Penh Crown in the close-season for alleged match-fixing. However Naga World will not be pleased with their season start – a draw and a defeat both in matches they would have been favourites to win. Crown have also been less impressive thus far than they would have hoped and will be desperate Shane Booysen and Keo Sokpeng are fit and able to start.

State of the League

	Round 1	Round 2
Goals (average per game)	24 (4.8)	20 (4.0)
% goals scored by foreign players	58%	80%