Roundup: Son & Leverkusen win again

Tim Lee at Tavern Studio Canada has the roundup once again – take it away Tim:

Wishing a happy Easter to all, and my thoughts remain with those families affected by the Sewol tragedy.
Let’s take a look at what our KPA’s did in Europe this week.

Kim Bo Kyung had an interesting game in a home game where points were vital. He started off brightly, getting involved in one-twos, good passing, and a very encouraging start. But we saw more of his less impressive side, which we have gotten used to seeing time and time again this season. His indecision, sometimes lack of confidence, especially to shoot, and the fact that he gets pushed around so much are the real flaws in his game.
He conceded a penalty right before halftime, which looked really borderline, and I personally didn’t agree with the call and still don’t. ESPNFC agreed: “It appeared to be a harsh decision by referee Howard Webb, who punished Kim for his challenge on former Cardiff player Peter Odemwingie…” (After scouring the interwebs I haven’t been able to find a video clip. I’ll try to get one up here if I find one.)
He faded for much of the second half, although he was involved in the leadup to another penalty, this time, in favor of Cardiff. He was subbed off in the 60th minute. The tale of two penalties finished 1 all and Cardiff pick up a point against Stoke. The Bluebirds still believe, but time is quickly running out on their survival hopes. BTW, Kim was one of several Korean sports stars that called attention to the ferry disaster, “In another token of support, Kim Bo-kyung of Cardiff City in England’s Premier League wore a black armband to mourn the victims during a home game against Stoke City on Sunday. ”  -from the Choson Ilbo
Meanwhile, Ki Sung-Yeung is out injured with a tendonitis injury he sustained against Everton last week. With his return date in a couple weeks, and the fact that he can’t play in the closing game against Swansea, Ki’s Sunderland career is nearly over. The Black Cats however beat Chelsea, (after having drawn Man City midweek) essentially handing the title to Liverpool on a silver platter and (more importantly) it gives Sunderland hope on staying up. Let’s take a look at the relegation picture then…
Teams like Hull, Swansea, West Ham, Aston Villa and West Brom will probably avoid the drop, but still must focus to avoid a once unfathomable collapse of apocalyptic levels.
Then we have Norwich, Cardiff, Fulham and Sunderland. Let’s analyse a bit:
Norwich won’t go down without a fight but their remaining fixtures aren’t very pleasant. Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal stand in their way, and they’ll need an upset somewhere to stay up, with United perhaps the easier of options, this season, at least.
Fulham have much easier fixtures, in Hull City, Stoke City and Crystal Palace. They’ll need to show up for these games, because these are winnable and they could avoid the drop.
Sunderland have four games left, Cardiff, United, West Brom and Swansea. The Cardiff and Swansea fixtures will be vital.
Cardiff have to face the two Tyne-Wear sides and Chelsea.
Stay tuned as the relegation battle continues…
Championship news – QPR lost to likely champions Leicester City 1-0. Yun Suk-Young played as a left midfielder of sorts apparently, playing the whole 90. He had a decent game, If you’re curious, we’ll have the match highlights shortly…
So the question arises again – Yun Suk Young, Park Joo Ho or Kim Jin Su? Surely Hong is weighing his options too… again stay tuned.
Chungy [aka Lee Chung-Young] contributed 88 minutes in a 0-0 draw with FA Cup Quarter Finalists Charlton Athletic.
Now over to Germany, where Koo Ja Cheol was brought on in the 75th minute for a tough clash with Borussia Dortmund – but the reigning European runners-up were too powerful on the day, despite a pair of Shinji Okazaki goals. Park Joo Ho was not fit for the bench (still in recovery), and Koo had little impact. Fans are slowly starting to get impatient on what Koo has, or rather, hasn’t done for Mainz in the little time he’s been given at the club.
M05 are now in a Europa League qualifier spot, because the DFB-Pokal Europa League passes were reassigned to the Bundesliga, since both teams in the finals are already qualified for the Champions League.
Augsburg drew 0-0 with Hertha Berlin and Hong Jeong-Ho had a great scoring chance, and if you read much into whoscored.com, he’s your Man of the Match! Ji Dong-Won was fit enough to make a sub stint, coming on in the 78’.
And I will leave Roy with the Bayer Leverkusen result and Son’s contributions on a crucial win for B04.
Tavern Owner here: the new look (sans Hyppia) Bayer Leverkusen cruised to a 4-1 win over doomed Nurnberg. Son Heung-Min was involved in the build up to the first goal, then did practically all the work for the 3rd goal that put the game under wraps. Let’s fast forward to the 80th minute: Son recovered the ball deep in Bayer’s half as Nurnberg was searching for the equalizer. He then started sprinting with spectacular pace, catching Nurnberg’s back off gaurd.  Son realized that Emir Spahic, who scored his first goal of the season earlier, was uncharacteristically running in an advanced position to offer support. Brilliant pass and a moment later, the unlikliest player to score on a counterattacking run suddenly scored his 2nd goal of the season!  Credit Son’s unselfishness, it’s all about teamwork of course, but the TV announcers were amused in their observation that Son seemed slightly puzzled it was Spahic instead of Kibbling running with him on the counter. The 4th and final goal emerged as Son put a powerful shot in at the keeper, the rebound made it’s way to Hilbert to put an exclamation mark on the scoreline. An important win, it put them 1 point ahead of Wolfsburg and on back to 4th place, the last Champions League qualifying position. This is going to be a wild ride to season’s end! Meanwhile, I was hoping Ryu Seung-Woo could get another look with the score lopsided, but no cigar. Maybe next week?

K-League Classic round 9 over the weekend results are in:

Saturday, April 19
Ulsan
2
Final
Suwon
2
Busan IPark
1
Final
Seongnam
0
Dragons
0
Final
Jeonbuk
2
Sunday, April 20
Gyeongnam
0
Final
Sangju Sangmu
0
FC Seoul
0
Final
Steelers
1
Jeju United
1
Final
Incheon
0

Last but not least, Jae had good news from the Montigu U16 Tourney:

Honestly I haven’t been closely following the tourney, lacking TV/streaming coverage,etc. but the results have been very encouraging. Lee Seung-Woo scored Korea’s goal in a 1-1 draw with England earlier in the tournament. We’ll try to get more info on the April 22 showdown with the Ivory Coast…

About Roy Ghim 454 Articles
The old Tavern Owner

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