Mianhaeyo! Just a little bit late for this domestic update. Real life gets in the way, yes, even during summer. There weren’t really any surprises this past weekend in Korea’s top two tiers, but find out which side was on the wrong end of an absolute annihilation on the road. Later in the post, a preview of the K-League Classic’s midweek fixtures ahead of the K-League All-Star Team with Team Park Ji-Sung friendly on the Friday following.
K-League Classic Round 16 Recap
Saturday, July 19th, 2014
[table “” not found /]Seongnam almost conceded in the first minute and had it not been for two goalline saves by the Seongnam #3, —, the visitors would have found themselves a goal down a minute in. Seongnam was let off the hook again thanks to their keeper in the 23rd minute when the Dragons tried a sneaky quick free kick. Jeonnam eventually broke the deadlock in the second half when Stevica Ristic found himself in the right place in the right time with the ball caroming off the crossbar and off him and in. Ristic later won a penalty which was converted and Jeonnam took all three points at home.
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Incheon’s comeback to salvage a point on the road fell short. It was ultimately a poor first half that was their undoing. The Bluewings got on the board in the 18th minute when a Jung Sung-Ryong long ball found Roger who laid it back to Ko Cha-Won, who finished incisively. Some excellent team passing led to the second goal, and a perfect Suwon counter to the third. Jung’s fantastic save in the 60th minute meant that Incheon had to wait a couple of minutes for their comeback attempt to begin – their second goal a fantastic free kick from Moon Sang-Yun. It wasn’t enough as their hardwork failed to pay off with points at the Big Bird Stadium.
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A game with several chances but no finishes until the 87th minute. Apparently Kim Shin-Wook can take free kicks. Or so it seems. The tall Ulsan centre forward cunningly took the late free kick low and under the jumping wall, catching the keeper of guard and taking all three points at the Changwon Soccer Centre for the Horang-i.
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Both teams left it late in Seogwipo. A good throughball, some poor defending and Everton Santos prodded home what he and probably everyone else in the stadium thought would be the winner for Seoul in the 89th minute. But Jeju came out guns blazing in injury time and Hugo Droguett used his speed to chip a loose ball past Yoo Sang-Hoon to salvage a point in dramatic fashion for Jeju.
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Sunday, July 20th, 2014
[table “” not found /]Pohang’s dominance at the Steelyard and atop the K-League continued in their 2-0 win over Busan. After Fagner rattled the crossbar in the 2nd half for Busan, Kang Soo-Il, who is, sidenote, a half-Korean half-African (cool!), opened the scoring on a shot that Lee Bum-Young would love to have had back. In the 72nd minute the referee awarding a shockingly bad penalty and Shin Kwang-Hoon took the gift as Pohang remain number one after 16.
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At the Jeonju WC Stadium there was a huge result for Jeonbuk. A tremendous 6-0 shellacking against the Army side, Sangju Sangmu. Lee Dong-Gook opened the scoring with a cool finish – it happened to be the only one in the 1st half. Han Kyo-Won’s superb strike in the 64th minute opened the floodgates. Lee Seung-Gi chimed in minutes later, Caio had a pair 11 minutes apart with Leonardo’s goal in between.
Meanwhile, there seems to have been a sort of testimonial for Choi Eun-Sung, legendary Daejeon keeper. He signed with Jeonbuk in the final stages of his career. He was wearing number 532 for the first half, the number of appearances he’s made in his career, made a great save and then was subbed off for their regular choice no 1 Kwoun Sun-Tae at halftime. Choi will join Jeonbuk as a goalkeeping coach, and barring any emergency scenario it will be his very last cap as a professional player. Hats off. (Oh god, no pun intended. Caps… hats… whatever.)
K-League Challenge Round 19 Recap
Bucheon 1995 1-1 Daejeon Citizen
Gwangju FC 2-0 Suwon FC
Goyang Hi 3-1 Chungju Hummel
Ansan Police 2-1 Daegu FC
Anyang FC 2-1 Gangwon FC
A keeper blunder cost Bucheon a shock win against league-leading Daejeon; Gwangju left it late to triumph against Suwon City; Chungju are now winless in their last four with a 3-1 reverse at the hands of Goyang; a Ko Kyung-Min brace won it for Ansan; Anyang’s 2-1 win over Gangwon put the promotion candidates back into 2nd place.
<em>Eeh. So tired. I’ll update this post in a few hours. Jalgayo for now!
Aah, forgot I had to update this, so the preview is going to have to be a list of the fixtures with a quick preview and a standings update. Mianhaeyo.
Rapid Fire Preview K-League Classic 2014 Rd.17
Jeju United-Jeonnam Dragons (7pm KST, 6am EDT)
Busan IPark-Suwon Bluewings (7:30pm KST, 6:30am EDT)
Seongnam FC-Gyeongnam FC (7:30pm KST, 6:30am EDT)
Incheon United-Pohang Steelers (7:30pm KST, 6:30am EDT)
FC Seoul-Sangju Sangmu (7:30pm KST, 6:30am EDT)
Ulsan Hyundai Tigers-Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (7:30pm KST, 6:30am EDT)
Two top teams collide when Jeju and Jeonnam go head to head in Seogwipo;
Busan’s atrocious form isn’t going to be much help when they tackle 5th placed Suwon;
Seongnam and Gyeongnam are both close to the bottom and 3 points could go a long way in their push to make the first half if possible;
Struggling last-placed Incheon welcome first-placed Pohang in a mismatch on paper;
Sangju will be looking to redeem themselves after an epic second half collapse but Seoul are turning their season around, with no losses in their last 5;
It’s the Hyundai derby, and the second consecutive one on a Wednesday. The two teams met in their Round of 16 KFA Cup tie which Jeonbuk took last week and the two teams meet once more in Ulsan this week.
K-League Classic Standings after Round 16
KLG Classic:
Pohang 33
Jeonbuk 31
Jeonnam 30
Jeju 27
Suwon 26
Ulsan 23
Seoul 18
Sangju 17
Seongnam 14
Busan 14
Gyeongnam 13
Incheon 10
— Tim Lee (@korfan12) July 22, 2014
So that’s all then in this domestic update. I’ll have another one up for you prior to the K-League All-Star Game with Team Park Ji-Sung on Friday. Stay tuned here at the Tavern of the Taeguk Warriors!
Tim, Choi Eun-Sung made 532 total appearances for Daejeon/Jeonbuk in his career. The game against Sangju was his last game, and he will now become a goalkeeper coach for Jeonbuk.
Tim, no apologies necessary, great roundup and while i’m not usually into all star games, I’m psyched about this Park Ji-Sung all star game coming up soon
Yeah, it should be interesting, it’s a testimonial of sorts for Park Ji-Sung in front of what should be a big big crowd in Seoul. Anything less would be just shameful.