Defending champions Buriram United held off a brilliant late fightback by Samut Prakarn City on Saturday night to record a 3-2 victory and go No.1 in Thai League 1 at least for a day.
The triumph allowed the Thunder Castle to mount pressure on pacesetters PT Prachuap, who take on winless Chonburi in an away game on Sunday.
Korrakot Wiriyaudomsiri set Buriram on course with a late first-half goal which Pedro Junior followed with a brace to give the home team a massive 3-0 advantage.
However, Samut Parkarn staged late recovery as Kyaw Ko Ko of Myanmar and Thailand international Picha Autra helped them close the gap to 3-2 with five minutes remaining.
Buriram defenders succeeded in avoiding any late mishaps to secure the third win in a row for the northeastern giants.
Ten-man Port saw their dream of claiming the top spot take a beating as they lost 3-1 away at Sukhothai on Saturday.
Port were dealt a severe blow when their key midfielder Sumanya Purisai was sent off following an altercation with the referee in the 35th minute.
Joel Sami was quick to take advantage of the brief commotion that gripped Port players on the pitch and put Sukhothai ahead.
Pakorn Prempak levelled the score for Port just before the half-time whistle, but the hosts regained the upper hand when Petar Orlandic converted a penalty on 68 minutes.
Orlandic hit the target again in the dying moments to put a draw out of Port's reach.
Port, tied for second place with Buriram with eight points before last night's setback, fell to fifth place in the table.
For Sukhothai, it was their first win of the season after drawing four games on the trot.
In another match last night, True Bangkok United had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Nakhon Ratchsima.
Methee Thaweekulkarn had given the Swat Cats the advantage before the break, but the capital side were rescued by Anon Amornlerdsak 12 minutes into the second half.
The draw means that Bangkok United stay fourth in the league with eight points, the same as Nakhon Ratchasima who are in third spot owing to a better goal difference.
Five more matches are scheduled to be played on Sunday with Ratchaburi's new coach Marco Simone, a former AC Milan and Italy star, taking charge of his team's dugout for the first time at SCG Muang Thong United.
Simone was appointed only a few days ago, but he said he is happy that "the players have started to understand my style."
