Weekend Listing September 26-28

Drama in the K-League with the split-table event looming closer / Haniljeon time in the Asian Games, but first let’s start with the weekend Listings in Europe, courtesy of Korean Footballers Abroad (btw some weird sh*t happening in the Bundesliga table after a 0-0 draw between Mainz & Hoffenheim earlier today -we’ll get to that shortly)

K-League Classic Week 28

• Son Heung-Min: we didn’t get a midweek roundup out but it would’ve included Son scoring the only goal vs Augsburg to win 3 point for Bayer Leverkusen. Great run into the box and a rare advanced position by Hilbert fed Son a superb through ball and boom – goal.  It’s a damn good problem to have when it becomes seemingly routine for Son to score for his side. His was up for goal of the week, take a look:
• Hong Jeong-ho was on the bench when they faced Leverkusen & Son Wednesday but it’s possible we might see him in action against Hertha Berlin.  His teammate Sascha Molders re-injured his ankle on Wednesday and will be out several weeks according to Kicker.
• Which segues to our next point: perhaps a good time for Koo Ja-Cheol to phone his old club. If he has any influence there as he did 2 seasons ago to convince Augsburg to take Ji Dong-Won on loan from Sunderland, he might suggest a replacement striker, like oh say Park Chu-Young, who is training now with FC Seoul. The ex Monaco man is available on a free transfer. Just sayin…
• The Mainz / Hoffenheim friday match as you know, a scoreless draw.  The result however is that baring weekend results, Mainz is in 2nd place in the Bundesliga table.  You heard me correctly.  This was a team that looked in shambles in pre-season. Hoffenheim is right behind them in 3rd place. For more oddities in comparison, BVB is in 8th place. It’s still early in the season though and Mainz & Hoffenheim may likely settle back to midtable-ness.
• Speaking of BVB, just recovered from injury -Ji Dong-Won featured for the first half in a midweek reserve match.  Did pretty well apparently, but media reports indicates he may still be in recovery mode and will get minutes via a BVB II game on Saturday.
• Ki Sung-Yeung was quoted in Sunderland media that his presence and passing form has been missed greatly by the Blackcats. Ki has since been fairly excellent back with Swansea while Sunderland has struggled mightily in midfield. Ki will face his former teammates on Saturday.

More midweek recap, we’ll go back to Korean Footballers Abroad:

-Koo Ja Cheol remained out midweek… hopefully he’s finally fit enough to come back.  He may be bench if not 100%.

-Lee Chung-Yong came on late and had a few dangerous moments, showing his flashy skills, but Bolton lost. He should start his weekend.

-Kim Bo Kyung started for once but sadly was pulled to send a message after Cardiff found themselves down by 3 goals after 35 minutes.  It seems a bit unfair to have pulled two forwards when the defense was at fault but so it goes with temporary managers trying to fix a sinking ship.  We will see what happens if/when Cardiff get a new manager but KBK probably won’t be playing for a while until then.

-Yun Suk Young as mentioned last post was with reserves.  Perhaps this is the time he gets a chance but clearly he’s been off Harry’s radar for a while and I’m not expecting him to make the squad.

Tavern owner mode resuming: And on to the K-League, one midweek result to share:

With that, FC Seoul managed to stay in the top half of the table.  They will get some rest before next week’s 2nd leg Asian Champions League semis with Western Syndney – which shamefully is not airing anywhere in Korea.  Baseball yes, but no love for the Asian Champions League?  That’s bush league Korea broadcasters! Shame Shame Shame.

Where was I?  Ok, I think 2 weeks left before split table freeze, lots of drama and mere points separating the split, the race for the top and escape from the bottom.

The Top: it comes down to #1 vs #2. Sunday showdown between Jeonbuk and Pohang will be EPIC. Let’s go Steelers!  Say, this still isn’t about Choi Kang-hee hate still, is it?

The Split:  Jeonnam v Ulsan  – With just 2 points separating Jeonnam and Ulsan, -both have to go all out to avoid the splits -ouch!

The Bottom: only 5 points separating the bottom 5, the Busan IPark and Seongnam fixture will be especially tantalizing for the ‘great escape’ narratives for both clubs.

UPDATE: Modern Seoul, where have you been all my life?  I just came across their site and while they traffic in what’s cool in Seoul, they also have a great K-League section and they preview this week’s fixtures. We added them to the Tavern links – check them out and  their round 28 preview here.  Don’t forget to visit the new English language official K-League site, also updated in our Tavern links.

let’s close the Tavern tonight with a glance at the table as it stands before the Saturday matches.  What games will you be watching this weekend?