Thai Premier League side SCG Muang Thong United held Spanish club UD Almeria to a 1-1 draw in a friendly at SCG Stadium last night.
Jonathan Zongo opened the scoring for the La Liga side after 19 minutes and Datsakorn Thonglao cancelled out the advantage with a penalty kick two minutes later.
Thailand striker Teerasil Dangda, who is on loan to Almeria from Muang Thong, started for the visitors in an entertaining match in wet conditions due to a downpour.
Almeria were the better side in the opening minutes with shots by Quique Gonzalez and Teerasil denied by Muang Thong goalkeeper Kawin Thamasatchanan.
Bukina Faso forward Zongo’s cross found Teerasil whose header beat Kawin but was cleared off the line by Kim Dong Jin, the Muang Thong defender.
Zongo gave Almeria the lead after a solo effort. However, Muang Thong captain Datsakorn equalised two minutes later from a spot kick.
Almeria dominated for long periods in the second half with Wellington da Silva, Edgar Mendez and Teerasil squandering chances.
Muang Thong’s best chance in the second half came from Mario Gjurovski who saw his shot hit the bar.
Teerasil joined Almeria earlier this month in a season-long loan deal. He scored three goals in his first two warm-up matches for the Spanish team.
Buriram reach Cup final
In the League Cup, defending champions Buriram United reached their fifth straight final after beating Ratchaburi 2-1 in the semi-final second leg last night to win 3-1 on aggregate.
The Thunder Castle will meet BEC Tero Sasana at Thammasat Stadium in the final on Oct 12 after the Fire Dragons finished off Nakhon Ratchasima.
BEC won 4-2 at Nakhon Ratchasima last night after beating the Swat Cats 1-0 in the first leg.
In the Thai Premier League, Chainat continued their good run with a 2-0 home win against PTT Rayong.
Surachate Ngarmthip (55) and Luksana Kumruen (70) scored for the Hornbills.
Chainat moved up to 13th place with 33 points while PTT Rayong remained second from bottom with 19 points.
Ronaldo may face United
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo is recovering well from his knee injury and may return to action in Saturday’s friendly against his former club Manchester United in Michigan, according to coach Carlo Ancelotti.
The Portugal captain and World Player of the Year has been hampered by a left knee problem in recent months and was clearly below his best at the World Cup in Brazil, where the Portuguese failed to progress beyond the group stage.
“He [Ronaldo] did two sessions today and he is working well on his own,” Ancelotti said on Tuesday after Real were beaten 1-0 by AS Roma in a friendly in Dallas.
“Let’s see if in the next few days he can train with the team and can play against Manchester,” added the Italian.
Ancelotti will be hoping Ronaldo regains full fitness in time for the European champions’ first competitive fixture of the 2014-15 season, the European Super Cup against La Liga rivals and Europa League winners Sevilla in Cardiff on Aug 12.