The side from Korea Republic survived an early scare when referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim reversed an initial decision to award the visitors a penalty when the ball hit the arm of Park Soo-il, the Qatari official changing his mind after viewing the pitch side monitor.

 

Robert Bauer then headed high over the FC Seoul crossbar from Robert Zulj’s centre as the teams cancelled one another out in a tense stalemate that was finally broken with seven minutes left in the half.

That was when Silva, who had well marshalled by the Buriram United defence to that point, stepped in from the left and bent an inviting cross towards the far corner of the six yard box and Choi made perfect contact to slot a first-time strike past Neil Etheridge.

 

The Buriram United goalkeeper was beaten again three minutes into time added on at the end of the first half as the Philippines international misread the flight of Jeong’s cross from the right, the ball skipping off the turf and into the goal for FC Seoul’s second.

Etheridge denied FC Seoul a third 13 minutes into the second half when Hwang Do-yun glanced Jesse Lingard’s corner towards goal but, by the half way point in the half, the home side had extended their lead.

The Buriram United defence struggled to convincingly clear their lines after Park Soo-il’s ball was pushed away by Etheridge and the ball eventually ended up at the feet of Silva, who swept his shot into the top corner from eight yards out.

Substitute Ilhan Fandi was inches away from claiming a late consolation for Buriram United and Fejsal Mulic also forced Choi Chul-won into action as FC Seoul closed out the game to seal a comfortable victory.