K League R17 Round Up - 2-0 is a dangerous lead
K League returned from the international break with plenty of talking points and some wild action especially in the Sunday 6p.m kick offs
While K League players Martin Adam and Jasir Asani make appearances in the Euros; the league itself sprung back into life with some lively action ahead of a busy 2nd half of June. Both Ulsan HD and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors dropped points at home from being 2-0 up in the 2nd half, which would’ve a one stage in the K League have been highly unlikely. FC Seoul and Incheon United, despite considerable woes, making the exciting turnarounds. Elsewhere the tactical masterclass that Gangwon FC put on vs Suwon FC was very impressive, making it 5 wins in a row. Gwangju FC have two wins in a row themselves with 2-0 win over 10-man, and also heavily changed, Gimcheon Sangmu. Daegu leaped to 10th with a long awaited win, defeating Jeju United 1-0 and Hwang Sun-hong’s return to Daejeon Hana Citizen got off to a decent start with a point away at Pohang Steelers.
Goal of the Round
Take your pick of the Incheon United long range beauties. Word for a number of well constructed goals including Yang Min-hyuk’s for Gangwon, Lee Seung-woo’s for Suwon FC and Iljutchenko’s first goal in FC Seoul’s comeback draw.
The winner though…..Kim Do-hyuk’s left footed pearler.
Player of the Round
Gangwon FC’s youth sensation Yang Min-hyuk has played every match this season and bagged his 5th goal of the season sealing the win for now 2nd placed Gangwon. He terrorised Suwon FC’s Park Cheol-woo and Laclan Jackson, and in truth could’ve scored more. His link up play with Hwang Mun-ki was key in his team’s build up play and Suwon couldn’t live with him.
Match of the Round
Couple of contenders for this, but will go with
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2-2 Incheon United (2.6 Xg vs 1.9 Xg)
Both sides mustered 18 shots with few on target telling us that it was more about the near misses of which Jeonbuk will be ruing those the most. In a similar fashion to the way they drew 2-2 vs Daegu FC earlier this season they again conceding 2 late goals from a 2-0 position. Despite a much improved attacking performance, the former 9-time K League champs remain in the relegation zone. This game had everything with plenty of controversies as well. A late Song Min-kyu dive caused uproar among Incheon players, which led to a clash between him and Shin Jin-ho, who told Song “Don’t do hollywood action.” Song issued a statement post-match saying he has talked to Shin on the phone, hopefully this stops his propensity for diving.
On top of that, the Incheon equaliser came from a goal kick that Jeonbuk players claimed was a corner, a very small nick off Jeong Dong-yun, that incident among the over the top protests for it led to a Jeonbuk fan throwing a water bottle at the referee when exiting. Not far removed from the Incheon water bottle incident, I hope there are repercussions for the individual and club. Fans and players of the home team only have themselves to blame for the amount of chances that went begging. Kim Do-heon awaits his first win but among the noise of the failure to get the Son Jun-ho transfer across the line
For Incheon United, a fortunate point, a change of system to 5-3-2 with Kim Do-hyuk, M’poku, and Shin Jin-ho in the middle seems to be what got them back in the game but the manager stating that they needed to rotate because it was hot doesn’t sit well with me. The players are certainly covering for Jo Sung-hwan’s tactics and selections as this very easily could’ve been another heavy away defeat.
MOM Moon Seon-min - his double is always doubly painful against his former club
UP NEXT Incheon United host Gimcheon in the cup followed by Pohang in the league. Jeonbuk are away to Gimpo in the cup and then at Daegu at the weekend.
Gangwon 3-1 Suwon FC (1.86 Xg vs 1.12Xg)
A tactical masterclass by Gangwon FC saw them continue their hot streak with another win and in their last game in Chuncheon this season before the move to Gangneung. Build up play down the right with Kim Kang-gook dropping back into the Gangwon defence allowing Hwang Mun-ki to get forward and his link up with Yang Min-hyuk to expose Suwon’s 4-3-3 with the midfield not sliding over enough. The pressing from Gangwon caused countless problems for Suwon and led to the first goal. The intensity of Gangwon out of possession was too much for Suwon, Winning 5 of 12 slide tackles to Suwon’s 1/1, 40 interceptions to Suwon’s 26 and 19 fouls to their 6. Suwon were forced to change to a 4-4-2 and then a 5-3-2 but when they got back into the game from another piece of great link up play between Anderson and Lee Seung-woo, they conceded straight away with Choi Kyu-baek again turning and moving like the Titanic. Gangwon FC adapted to a counter attack and duly added a 3rd from the sensational Yang Min-hyuk.
MOM the 17-year-old
UP NEXT Gangwon are away to FC Seoul in the cup and then meet Gimcheon at home. Suwon FC are out of the cup and play FC Seoul away next in what could be a debut for Son Jun-ho.
Gwangju 2-0 Gimcheon Sangmu (1.61 Xg vs 0.26)
A tough opening for a Gimcheon in transition who had to play an hour with 10 men after an incredibly harsh red card for Cho Hyun-taek, I expect this to be downgraded post-match. Cho’s tackle was similar to Jesse Lingard’s booking at the weekend but not as bad so double standards. Gwangju dominated as you would expect and a slick set play with Park Tae-jun coming back from an offside position to find acres of space to head in the opener and then Eom Ji-sung showing his class to seal the win.
MOM Jung Ho-yeon
UP NEXT Gimcheon have an away trip to Incheon in the cup and Gangwon in the leage. Gwangju are away to 2nd tier Bucheon and then Daejeon
Ulsan HD 2-2 FC Seoul (1.81 Xg vs 1.92 Xg)
As the Xg shows us a draw was more than fair in this one, but the feeling is quite different. Ulsan HD throwing a 2 goal lead seldom happens but when Kim Young-gwon is missing it happens more often, the veteran missed the game with water in his knee and could be out for a while. Ulsan coach Hong Myung-bo accused his players of not running enough, while some of his substitutions seemed to stunt their attacks, opting for midfield control over width; leaving Kelvin on the bench. FC Seoul can be happy with a comeback from yet more defensive woes. The centre backs, Lee Tae-seok and Lee Seung-jun all contributing to rocky first half but Stanislav Iljutchenko went joint top of the goalscoring charts with his 9th of the season 2nd double. Captain Jesse Lingard still seems to be playing within himself, turning down shooting opportunites, taking the safe passing options and occasionnally losing control with the Englishman now 1 booking away from suspension - completing 90 minutes for the 2nd time is very encouraging though.
MOM Iljutchenko
UP NEXT FC Seoul have Gangwon FC in the cup followed by Suwon FC in the league. Ulsan HD are at home to Gyeongnam and then away to Jeju United.
Daegu FC 1-0 Jeju United (no Xg available at time of writing)
Huge and deserved win for Daegu after another close encounter between these two. The first game this season was settled by a deflected Kim Tae-hwan shot in Jeju’s favour but there was certainly no deflection on Bobshin’s left footed rocket that separated the two teams. In the second half Jeju’s lack of resources off the bench was again telling with defensive midfielder Italo tasked with leading the line in the dying moments, the tall Brazilian also got the equaliser hitting the bar. However, it was the home side who came closest to adding to the scoreline with Park Se-min guilty of missing a golden chance with the last kick of the game. Daegu leapfrog Daejeon and Jeonbuk with the win and a welcome clean sheet had the manager Park Chang-hyun in his new suit beaming
MOM Bobshin
UP NEXT no cup game for Daegu means it’s Jeonbuk at home next in the league. Jeju are at Daejeon midweek in the cup and then host Ulsan at the weekend
Pohang Steelers 1-1 Daejeon Hana Citizen (2.22 Xg vs 0.2 Xg)
Despite the home team dominating it’s the away side who leave happiest scoring with only one shot on target and that wasn’t the goal. Pohang on the other hand had 22 shots but only 3 on target means it’s one win from six games for the early pacesetters of the league. Lee Ho-jae went closest with a number of shots on the turn on the right side of the penalty box following his HT introduction. Lim Deok-geun was the stalwart in Daejeon’s make shift defence. Hwang Sun-hong’s team set up defensively in the same system as his predecessor with little indication of change that might be reflected more when the new signings join. Incheon’s Cheon Seong-hun at CF and former Busan and Jeonbuk right back Kim Moon-hwan both joining the team this week.
MOM Lim Deok-geun
UP NEXT Pohang take on Suwon Bluewings at home in the cup and then are away at Incheon. Daejeon are at home to Gwangju after a home tie vs Jeju in the cup